


Lawless

by CinnamonBoi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Assassins & Hitmen, Child Neglect, Crimes & Criminals, Drugs, Dubious Morality, F/F, F/M, Gang Violence, Gangsters, Guns, Heist, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Injury, Moral Ambiguity, Multi, Police Brutality, Racism, Sex, Spies & Secret Agents, Underage Drinking, Violence, Wands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-02-28 23:13:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18766258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinnamonBoi/pseuds/CinnamonBoi
Summary: One thousand years ago Magic was discovered and the secret couldn't be contained. For the thousand years after the non magical population, out of fear or envy, has hunted Magic in all its forms. Now in the modern era Magicals are oppressed and abused. When the civilized world doesn't want you, when the Law keeps you face down on the ground, you misbehave. and Magicals have gotten very good at "misbehaving".Magic has been pushed underground where it reigns supreme in a world of crimeOr in which Harry, Hermione, and Luna try to find their place in a world that doesn't want them.





	1. Information is Valuable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a first look at the world and the very first whispers of the start of this story.

It is a quiet Tuesday night in Luton. Ordinary people walk about doing ordinary things. They walk to the pub. They walk to work to begin their night shifts. They walk home to beat their kids and shag their wife. Ordinary things.

If someone where to look up however, someone very observant mind, they would see cloaked figures gather. They fly down on brooms and speak to their distant cohorts using hand held mirrors, very out of the ordinary. All look down upon a seemingly normal Pub.

Below street level, in the basement of that very pub is a room that is quite extraordinary.

The ceiling towers much higher above the crowds of bizarre beings than should have been possible. The lights are dim and the sound of the throng cheering and booing drowns out conversation. Atop a box to one side a small, scrawny, big eared creature calls out and collects money before a board of odds. Tables are arrayed to one side of the room with clear view of the center of the room, their occupants smoke and lean in close to one another to exchange private words as more of the little creatures and scantily clad women serve drinks. And in the center of the room is a ring.

Two great beasts bark and snarl and tear at each other with their three heads. Blood and spittle fly as the air seems to vibrate with their clash, Driving the crowd to erupt with more sound.

“How barbaric” A diminutive man comments to his companion, he clearly does not like what he is seeing. “You have certainly put together the most atrocious business for yourself, Tony”

“Funny. Hearing that from you, Goblin.” His companion returns some disdain for the man showing in his voice.

“Flitwick, Please.” The little man insisted.

“Well, _Flitwick_. Its like this.” Tony points towards the ring. “Those muts tear each-other to sheds, yeah, an’ the winna gets to go in back an’ get tied down in a nice warm bitch. The strong survive.” Tony turns back to Flitwick. “Or, if its more agreeable to yer sensibilities, we leave im’ to the Mundanes, and they go extinct by the end of the year. Tis down right Humanitarian of me. That I’m makin’ money on the side’s merely the cherry on top of this endeavor.” The man’s gold tooth peaks out from his stupid grin.

“yes, well. Speaking of money, Tony. It must have taken a lot of time and money to put together this little operation of yours.” Flitwick said idly smoothing out a crease in his suit jacket. “Money the Goblin National Bank has a stake in.”

“You’ll get your money.” Tony said dismissively.

“will we?” Flitwick asked looking back up at Tony. “It took you an awful long time to put this together and We are known for our… Interest rates.” Flitwick eyed the house elves walking about. “And it doesn’t look to me like you are going to be able to cover what you’re owing us.”

Tony looks back at the crowed. “You bind or somethink? Or does yer height make it hard to see?”

Flitwick ignored the questions. “Its not about the money any more for you, unfortunately. We will be taking the Cerberuses. If it helps the animal lover in you, you can be assured they will go to a good home.”

“You can’t do that!”

“Can’t we?” Flitwick asked getting up from the table. He opened his mouth to continue but was forced to dive to the ground as a table several meters away explodes.

-some moments previously-

Mr. Quibbler sat towards the back of the room. An untouched glass of some very cheep lager sitting on the table before him. He was keeping his eyes moving though the room, marking people of interest.

Talking with the fight pit’s owner at a table not far away was Filius Flitwick. One of The Goblin Bank’s most infamous and effective debt collectors. Once actually dueling 23 debtors consecutively and without breaks for every possession they owned. A grand accomplishment to be sure if not overshadowed somewhat by the fact that it only took the man less than 1 hour to finish with them all.

If Flitwick was here than the Goblins were not happy and the underground fighting would be a short-lived venture.

A pretty young Scottish woman wearing provocative clothing leaned against his table. “That is quite the wardrobe.” She said in a pretty Scottish accent and playing with his egg yolk yellow suit.

“I could say much the same for yourself.” Mr. Quibbler said, looking at the barely-a-skirt and fishnet legging that were parked before him on the table. “I always took McGonagall to be more conservative leaning.” He turns to look at the old woman a few tables down. _What is she doing down here?_

The woman’s breath hitched briefly. “u-um. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It’s quite alright, dear.” Mr. quibble continued to watch the old woman ash her cigarette as one of the other women walking about came over to whisper something into her ear. “Off you go now. I’m sure she’ll be wanting you in your place.

Minerva McGonagall, a woman who generally kept to her own up in Scotland and the Madam of a very high-end escort service. Purportedly she was very protective of her girl’s and Mr. Quibbler had some evidence that a number of rather extreme assassinations were carried out by the woman. She was usually a reliable contact of his, should he need a certain kind of information.

But why was she here? The individual who ran the pit did not have nearly the money to hire what looked to be ALL of McGonagall’s girls. But here they were. And the woman was smoking. Another oddity.

A commotion started up from the entrance. And Mr. Quibbler could see a number of masked individuals enter into the room and argue with the security. _Death eaters?_ What did revolutionaries want with a fight pit?

McGonagall got up from her table and walked towards the betting booth, leaving her cigarette still lit on the table. He had never known the woman to smoke before.

The Death eaters had drawn their wands and were beginning to cast their first spells. Nothing good.

Mr. Quibbblers eyes widened as the threat revealed itself. Diving to the floor and up ending his table. Pulling his wand and the handkerchief out of his suit pocket and allowing the transfiguration to end as it took form into a pistol. His eyes glued on the cigarette.

The cigarette that was very rapidly becoming not a cigarette. The fire that lit its tip taking hold in a very different substance.

There was a deafening explosion and then the room erupted into chaos.

Everyone who could, aparated away or used port keys. Those that couldn’t or had some vested interest in the conflict drew what weapons they had and took cover. The elves were nowhere to be seen. He took cover from the fighting and watched the chaos; He didn’t have a reason to join the fight but he considered it a point of professional pride that he walks out of here knowing how it ends.

Flitwick had abandoned Tony and was immobilizing and attempting to move the two Cerberuses while simultaneously fighting off a death eater who was attempting the same thing. A dagger was pulled from Flitwick’s pocket and swiftly buried in his opponent’s throat, wetting the quarter-goblin’s face with arterial spray, when the Death eater tried to over power him physically.

McGonagall’s girls had used portkeys to get out but not before dropping what were most assuredly smoke bombs all over the room, obscuring the view for everyone (though his handy and stylish omnioculars made the smoke no obstacle for Mr. Quibbler). The woman herself was in a three-way fight with the death eaters and security and was holding her own quite well. A number of transfigured animals were wolves were running amok and making it quite easy for the woman to end her distracted opponents.

A number of blasting and cutting curses suddenly flew through the air in rapid succession from the other side of the room, cutting down many of the Death Eaters in sprays of blood that painted the walls from the sudden onslaught. A wizard with a mess of curly dark brown hair stepped through the chaos dodging any attempt at retaliation. The ever skilled and enthusiastic Sirius Black. Mr. Quibbler had not seen him and wondered who he was here with. As Tony most certainly did not hire any Aurors so far as he knew.

Less than a minute into the chaos, the sound of yet more aparations rang through the room. And all was quiet.

McGonagall had left immediately upon reaching the betting box. And the Death eaters had retreated not long after taking too much fire from the security and the prodigious Auror to risk staying around.

“Whew.” Sirius said wiping his brow and holstering his wand once more up his sleeve. “Well I wasn’t expecting THAT, tonight.” He looked around with some disappointment. “and they scared all the birds off too.”

Tony scrambled to his feet looking around at the wrecked room and the empty ring. “What the Bloody Hell Happened! OI! You lot!” He gestured at the surviving security. “Round these arseholes up!”

“Now now Tony.” Mr. Quibbler said standing up from his cover. “No need for that. So far as I can see you don’t have any money to be paying these men with anymore anyway.”

“OH hey!” Sirius greeted. “Xeno! You Kooky Bat. Its good to see you.”

“Likewise, Sirius” Xeno said putting his own wand back into his jacket. “Quite the exciting night I must say. What where you doing here.”

“Hired security for the Goblins” Sirius answered with a grin. “Not that Filius needed it, mind.”

“You owed the Goblin’s money, again, and were conscripted you mean.” Xeno grinned as he needled the man.

“Cheeky bastard.” Sirius shot back with a grin of his own.

“WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP!” Tony shouted. “MY DOGS ARE GONE! MY MONEY IS GONE! MY ELVES ARE GONE! MY SET UP IS TRASHED! AND I WANT ANSWERS! **NOW**!”

“Oh, yes. I know where your money has gone.” Xeno offered.

“It’s with Filius, yeah?” Sirius asked. “as you owed the Goblin’s, I say to just give up on it.”

“Hmmm.” Xeno looked off at the betting box. “Indeed. No getting that back.” He began walking towards the exit ignoring the hired goons still trying to figure out if they would still be getting paid. “Now if you will excuse me.” And apparated with a twist and a crack.

-o0O0o-

Xenophilius Lovegood walked through the narrow streets of the Alley in Southampton.

Insanely high taxes as well as overly expensive prices on property and rentals as well as simple consumer goods, compounded with the verbal and physical abuse they received practically forced Magicals together in Apartheid like circumstances. The Alleys were where they all ended up in the end. Some would travel around the world searching for a better life but would only ever find themselves in another Alley.

Even within the Alleys conditions were harsh, old or cheaply built buildings were generally packed together. The power grid was cheap and outdated failing on a regular basis and too expensive to afford in the first place. If it had not been for Magic these conditions would have degraded far beyond inhumane. This is how the politicians got away with it. ‘They have magic they’ll be okay’ translated to ‘they have something we don’t so let’s take everything else away’. It was hard but they survived, even thrived sometimes.

These were the Alleys, or perhaps slum was a better name for them. It was only the presence of magic that kept these places alive and bustling in spite of it all. These neighborhoods also acted as a convenient tool for rinsing ill gotten money.

Xeno walked into a door taking up an otherwise impossible position next to the entrance of a derelict building, A sign hug above reading “the Crow and Apple”.

With a twisting sensation Zeno was walking into a cozy bar. The lighting was dim, more like mood lighting than anything else. The furnisher was dark red wood. The bar was full of characters of varying descriptions. Everything from house elves and humans to goblins and sphinxes sat scattered throughout the bar doing, what else, but drink and talk.

Dame Faire Delapoint knew how to make someone welcome, even if she was a very stern and prickly young woman.

The woman herself stood, tall and spindly, behind the bar. Dark hair barely held into a messy bunby a number of hair ornaments, strands of it hanging loose down her back or sticking out in wild directions. She was busy simultaneously serving five or six customers but was somehow still able to spare a hand to wave at Xenophilius in acknowledgement.

Xeno swore she had too many arms but could only ever count two if he tried.

“Ah, Lovegood, greetings. How are you?” She never turned away from her work, dark eyes following the flow of alcohol from bottle to glass and hand to hand.

“I am doing as well as can be expected, bit exciting tonight but not out of the ordinary, Faire. The wrackspurts are thick around everyone, it’s a wonder we can think clearly.” A small hum was all the answer he received.

“What can I get you?” Faire asked after Xeno took a seat at the bar.

“I’ll have a sunny-side breakfast cocktail, hold the bacon please.” A few of the other patrons gave him odd looks but Faire Delapoint just nodded and went to prepare the drink.

It was not even 30 seconds later that the sound of quiet sizzling presented itself to his senses and a glass with a cooking sunny-side-up egg atop it was placed before him. Xenophilius quickly downed the drink enjoying the way the coffee and firewhisky complimented the egg. He looked up to see Faire holding her hand out expectantly.

“ah, yes.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a large folder “a record of all the dealings and accounts for the past year of the ‘Leaky Caldron’.”

Faire nodded “One more year of free drinks as promised.” Taking the envelope and placing it somewhere beneath the bar. “By the way, Ciro is expecting you. He’s at his usual table. I trust you don’t need directions.”

“Yes, thank you. No, I’ll be fine. Ah, and here” he handed her a cork charm necklace. “I noticed there are an awful lot of wrackspurts around your bar, I think it has something to do with your arms” Faire nodded curtly before pocketing the charm and turning to another customer.

Xenophilius made his way to the back of the bar where a sharply dressed man sat waiting. Dark eyes evaluated him as they always did whenever Xeno met with the man.

“Mr. Quibbler.” A dry voice greeted; it was not the voice of an old man but it was too controlled to belong to a young man either. “It is a pleasure to see you again. I heard your wife is pregnant, congratulations.”

“And I thought I was supposed to be the informant, Padrone.” Xeno bowed to the man but remained standing before the table. Ciro Becchino was not a simple Alley boss, though he was the sponsor for MANY of the Alleys on the British Isles. He was the leader of the Crossroads Trade Union, the reigning neutral power in Europe’s magical crime scene. They also represented the Camorra’s interests on the magical side of the underground. This man was a very powerful individual. “We are expecting her in join the family this coming February.”

Ciro gestured for Xeno to sit. “I heard there was quit an event in Luton last night.”

“ah yes. It was more than I was expecting honestly. Didn’t last long but it was quite the who’s who.” Xeno said taking the offered seat.

“And who came away the victor? There is quite a lot of money unaccounted for now”

“Well, The Goblin National Bank claimed and made off with the Cerberuses, though I think that was going to happen regardless with both Flitwick and Black there. And as for the money… McGonagall was there apparently making an attempt to grab it and I do believe the money is what drew the Death Eaters there in the first place.” Xeno chuckles. “But it didn’t matter the Elven Union made off with the money almost as soon as everything went south.”

“The Goblins won’t be happy.” Ciro said, leaning back.

“No, they wont. Toney cost them a lot of money, and even the Cerberuses are going to take a long time for them to start seeing any return on that investment.” Xeno conceded. “I expect Tony to have an accident some time in the next month”

Ciro hummed his acknowledgment. “Now, as per our arrangement...”

Xeno pulled out a dictionary sized file from his coat pocket. It was a technicoloured monstrosity of notes and photographs and creatively procured documents. It appeared to be a barely organized mess. One shouldn’t judge Mr. Quibbler’s reports by their appearance however, every page was full of useful information. Even his crazy conspiracy theories contained useful information. Often the true meat of the report, and the most useful of the information was tied up in the craziest of the man’s theories.

“Here you are. Now remember, you didn’t get this from me.” Xeno said with a playful wink.

“And the other person I wanted you to investigate?”

“ah…” xeno pulled out a thin folder that might only be holding a few pages, Ciro lifted an eyebrow. “…this is all the information I managed to dig up on him. What little of his past I could find. Most of that is death certificates. Anyone who could have given me the information is dead. When I went through their estates, I found that in every case he received a share.”

“The money does account for a great deal of his political power. What else have you found?”

“He keeps up regular correspondence with political bodies including our own parliament as well as the French ministry. He has also established connections with the Vatican and the Inquisitors.”

“That does not bode well. Even less so that we don’t know his end game.” Ciro sighed and seemed to visibly relax, he took both folders and placed them in the inside pocket of his greatcoat. He reached into another pocket and placed a thin cigar in his mouth. Lovegood could feel the dark stare of Faire from across the room. He looked at Ciro and silently pleaded with him not to light it. Dame Delapoint had only two rules; don’t get blood on the upholstery and don’t smoke in the bar, break one of these rules and you would be at her tender mercies. Lovegood had seen her completely ignore bar room brawls and served a teenager the strongest alcohol she had available without batting an eye. But the first time someone lit a cigarette the poor man was frantically hammering away at death’s door begging to be let through by the time he was finally thrown out. Luckily for both men Ciro had considerably more sense than that unfortunate son of a bitch and idly nibbled on the cigar in lieu of actually smoking it. “Have you given any thought on my offer? You’re the best informant on the island, possibly the continent, and your insight has been invaluable.”

 “I was initially going to say no…” Xeno smiled nervously. “But I’m going to be a dad soon. I don’t know how long I can keep this going on my own… I had a lot to think about.”

Ciro remained silent, eyeing Xeno and chewing his cigar.

“I… think I don’t have any better option, honestly.” Xeno stood up and offered his hand. “My name is Xenophius Lovegood, and I humbly accept the position.”

Ciro took the offered hand. “Welcome to the Crossroads Trade Union Mr. Lovegood.”

-o0O0o-

Padrone Ciro Becchino walked down a busy street in downtown London, lit cigar hanging from his lips. He had no entourage, he rarely went out with one, he had no need of his men’s protection. An entourage drew too much attention for it to really be worth it. There was safety in discretion not numbers. He reached up and took the cigar from his mouth and breathed out a plume of spicy smoke.

 He caught the reflection in a window. The reflection was a tall sharply dressed man of an indiscernible age. Its face was too gaunt to belong to a young man but was not so hollow that it would belong to an elder either. Renato could swear he saw grey hairs in the reflections slicked back hair, but the dirty blonde color contained so many other shades that one couldn’t really say for certain that they were the signs of aging or not. The cheeks held no sign of stubble or even the capability of a bearded but it did not make it seem immature in the slightest. And finally, the cold eyes, emotionless and calculating, they were the eyes of a stranger no matter who looked into them.

Ciro turned away from the window and continued onward. He would never admit to anyone how much it disturbed him, no matter how many times he had seen it. He could identify the reflection but it didn’t feel right to do so. It didn’t feel like him. Not anymore, not since he had been hit by that curse…

He walked on until he reached a trashcan were there had evidently been a bonfire for there were burnt pieces of paper everywhere. Ciro bent down and picked up one that was mostly intact. The first thing he noticed was that it featured a picture, a picture that moved. A magical paper. The Daily Prophet, Diagon’s means of informing its residents and partners. Diagon always was attempting to behave as a structured society despite how often their attempts brought them in conflict with the more pedantic of Mundane Laws. Printing a newspaper was very much like them.

The picture itself showed an infant brow with a lightning bolt scar on his right temple. Ciro was able to make out the fragment of a headline ‘ **He-who-must-not-be-named Vanquished by Harry Potter The-boy-who-**.’ Ciro assumed the child on the front was Harry and found the idea that the _baby_ defeated the so called "dark lord" laughable. That the Potters had been killed reached his ears last night but the survival of their infant son was a surprise. A pleasant surprise to be sure. And this seeming confirmation that Voldimort had been taken down with them even more so.

He noticed several people giving him dirty looks as they walked by. They must have thought he was a Magical because he was taking the time to read the paper. They would be wrong in their assumption but they were free to be wrong on their own.

Ciro was not surprised the Mundanes burned the papers. It was not that they were not glad Voldemort was gone but they did seem disappointed when it wasn’t them that did the vanquishing. He was a freak who died a freaky death doing freaky things in a world of freaks that had nothing to do with them. Conveniently forgetting Voldimort’s mission of bringing down the Mundane government and freeing his people from non-magical corruption.

To Ciro the death seemed to be a bit of a letdown, an anticlimax. And considering it was that senile old git that orchestrated the whole event from start to finish he could not help but feel like it wasn’t over. Voldemort will be back he concluded and Dumbledore **must** not be the one to finish him off when he does.

The crowd seemed to be parting around something coming down the street towards him. Ciro tuned to greet whatever it was. A hand idly reaching beneath his coat to rest on his gun. When the crowd parted, he was met by the sight of a hideously scarred man and a stern woman wearing a monocle.

“Madam Bones, Mad-Eye.” he greeted each with a nod.

“You’ve read the paper?” Bones asked looking at the scrap in Ciro’s hands

“What little of it I could find.”

“Dumbledore’s handiwork, no doubt about it.” Moody Growled.

“I am well aware”

“You are?” Bones asked suspiciously

“I had a broker do some digging, what he brought back was vaguely disturbing. I am surprised you are speaking of him in this way however, aren’t you his allies?”

“No” Bones said simply and firmly. “We had occasion to work together on various projects or to protect mutual assets but he was no friend of the Aurors.”

“The man makes ten fuck’n plans to kill every one he shakes hands with, and knows a hundred ways to use everyone he lays eyes on.” Moody added. It was fortunate that he made a hundred plans to survive any situation and could smell a trap a day before it was even set.

“I see. The enemy of thy enemy was it?” The two others nodded “With Voldemort out of the picture I can assume you are busy hunting down the last of the death eaters. A profitable venture I assume?”

“The majority of them are small fry, small bounties and even less information. The only major hit notices are for a psychopathic couple and a werewolf. They pay well but they are for capture not kill” Bones scoffed.

“Make matters worse. Dumbledore had Diagon and Nocturn blacklist Sirius Black.” Moody spoke up. “That’s some damn fine talent we can’t make use of any more. We suspect that he may be innocent however and after what that bearded vulture did, the least we can do is keep the son of a bitch out of his hands”

“That would be wise. I will have my men keep an eye out for Black, and shelter him from any unearned consequences.”

“You have our thanks, Padrone.” Madam bones bowed minutely to the man.

“Just know that I will expect a favour from you should I find him.” Ciro savoured the taste of his cigar for a moment. “By the way, what is to become of the young Mr. Potter?”

“We do not know.”

Ciro raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know? James was one of yours, wasn’t he?”

“After Voldemort kicked the bucket the kid just up and disappeared.” Moody shrugged. “We’re mercenaries not baby sitters. Much as we want to find the tyke.”

Ciro thought for a moment, searching his mind for a way to find the boy. He had no doubt that the boy was hidden behind wards not unlike Ciro’s own. However, there were a number of artifacts that knew the locations of magical children. Provided he could find one that was not confounded he would be able to find Potter. Ciro lifted his cigar to his lips only to find with some disappointment that it had burned itself down to ash while he had been talking. He reached into his coat and retrieved another one, lighting it. “My apologies Bones, Moody, it appears that I have some work to do. Excuse me” with that he turned around and made his way back to headquarters.

-END-


	2. Surviving the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> moments from the young lives of our protagonists. mere glimpses at their own brands of hardship.

 A dark-skinned woman sat at the bank of the River Lea, beneath one of a mess of bridges and highways crisscrossing all down the stream. The sound of the London Underground as it passed by toward London proper broke up the monotonous drone of the cars driving overhead.

She looked sickly. Her figure, once evidently full and youthful, had grown gaunt, her casual clothes hanging slightly looser off her. She had bags under her bloodshot eyes accompanying the puffy redness of someone who’s life had fallen apart.

Sticking out from beneath her shirt was a nearly healed wound, with stitches yet to be removed climbing up the side of her neck and ending just below her right ear.

A soft voice from behind caught the woman's attention, echoing slightly off the bridge. “And here I thought you would actually go see your sister this time.”

Julia Thomas didn’t look back at the woman. She just kept staring into the water.

“I see you took your bandages off.” The woman said coming into Julia’s peripheral vision. “nice stitching.”

“Thanks…” Julia answered in a hollow voice. “I did them myself.”

They sat in silence for a time. Julia knowing that Andromeda would not leave her alone until she said something. She didn’t want the nosy woman to be worried about her. It wasn’t her business what she did, just because she happened to save Julia's life didn’t give her any right to care.

“You should go see her. Your sister and your nephew.” Andromeda urged softly after several minutes.

“And what? Tell her that her husband is dead?” Julia spat looking at the other woman with a scowl. “Tell her that her husband lied to her about who he was? Tell her that he was torn apart by werewolves?” She chuckles mirthlessly. “Or maybe, I should just walk in and tell her that I was sleeping with him.”

“it wasn’t your fault.”

“Wasn’t it?” Julia asked, venom in her voice. “He was only there to see me. I just wanted to use him to burn off my med school stress. And now he’s dead and I’m…” Julia chokes back a sob and goes quiet.

They lapsed back into silence again. Julia just continued staring at the slightly muddy water.

“They are better off just believing I’m dead.” She said finally. “No good will come of me being around them.”

“What about your nephew?” Andromeda asked. “He’s a wizard, odds are at least. Do you think he would be alright?”

“My sister could never hate her own child.”

“But she could hate you?”

“I hate me.” Julia answered huddling in to herself. More silence ensued.

“well, hate yourself all you want. But the healer in me refuses to leave you to starve yourself to death.” Andromeda said standing and forcefully pulling the other woman to her feet. “It’s time you get a job. I’ve got some contacts that could use a healer.”

“I don’t have magic.”

“Don’t under value an education most of us can only dream of. You might not ever be able to finish it, but what little you have is already more than we are liable to ever get access to.” Andromeda smiles reassuringly. “Let’s take this a step at a time. And remember my door is always open if you need help again.”

Julia Thomas remained quiet but unresistant as the other woman pulled her out of the dark and back out into the sun.

-o0O0o-

A seven-year-old girl with a bushy mane of frizzy hair sat at the top of the stairs, listening to her parents talk in hushed voices in the kitchen below.

“Daniel we can’t!” her mom said quietly but urgently. “We would be lucky to keep our house, let alone our practice! We have to hide this!”

“How!? It’s accidental magic for a reason, it will get out eventually!” Her dad reasoned. “We could look at jail time if the government finds out!”

“So, we are just going to throw our lively hood and the well-being of our daughter to the wolves!?”

“No! look, we almost have the house paid off. We can make it through this. But none of that would matter if we go to prison first!”

“You expect us to be able to keep up after this gets out!? Our property tax is going to go through the roof! Our mortgage is going to be re-evaluated! Not to mention the strain its going to put on our business!”

“What do you want me to do then, Emma!?” her dad shouted.

“I want you to care!” Her mom shot back just as loudly. It was the beginning of one of their full blown arguments. The little girl at the top of the stairs stifled her whimper. This was not the first time they had had this argument. It hurt. It hurt because she knew it was all her fault.

Hermione Granger stifled her sobs as she quietly tip-toed back into bed, she didn’t want to be any more of a burden on her parents than she already was.

-o0O0o-

A few weeks later Hermione sat crying in the back of her parents’ car. “I’m sorry daddy… I tried… I… I’m sorry…”

Her parents sat at the front, her dad breathing heavily through his nose and her mom looked like she would start crying at any moment.

Her dad sat behind the wheal looking at her through the rear-view mirror. “Its OK sweetie… it’s just…" Daniel granger closed his eyes. "everything’s going to be fine. It's Ok.” He said this as he wiped his hand down his face, a tired and stressed expression on his face that told Hermione everything she needed to know.

It wasn’t OK.

“I… I’m sorry…” Hermione sobbed. Unable to bring herself to say anything else. She couldn’t even bring herself to say anything else as her parents started to argue loudly. “I’m s-Sorry… I’m So-rry… I’m Sorry…”

-o0O0o-

A tiny child looked up from his tiny bed, in his tiny room, at the tiny slanted ceiling. his only company, the tiny spiders that shared the room with him. One brilliant green eye stared at the ceiling; the other was swollen shut by a hideous purple bruise. His ill-fitting clothes barely hid the collection of other bruises that littered the young child's body.

Yesterday his cousin Dudley and his friends had chased the child around the neighborhood, throwing rocks at him and kicking the shit out of him when they finally caught him. It was only by accident that he was able to get out from under the larger kids’ feet. But when he returned home, he was beaten by his Uncle for his freakish display.

After all of that, he had to finish the chores and cook dinner for his family, and that just lead to another beating as he had cooked one side of one pork chop too long.

The tiny child considered himself lucky that his body had not broken yet. He didn’t like the idea of being useless and helpless. To be beaten again because he had the gall to be injured from a previous beating. Or at least that’s how he assumed it would go.

The boy was proud, strangely, that he could take as much as he did. He was as tough as a nail… and about as fleshed out too. He was little more than skin and bones, too small for anyone his age. But he endured.

He wondered about his parents. The dead beet freaks that got themselves killed in some accident. He was as much a freak as they were, he supposed. But he wouldn’t break the way they did. He endures.

A year ago, he had wished that someone, anyone would come and rescue him. Take him somewhere else, somewhere better. But even at six the boy had realized that even if he did leave, it would be more of the same, maybe worse. There was nowhere in the world that wanted him. There was no better place. no escape. So he would keep his head down and survive. If he could not escape, then he would endure.

-o0O0o-

Little six-year-old Luna watched wide eyed as the snarling dog barked and snapped at her face barely being held back from seriously injuring her by a police officer who wasn’t even paying her any attention. He was busy pinning her older friend Fred to the hood of the police cruiser. His brother was laying on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back.

“we didn’t do anything!” Fred protested

“Honest.” George supplied from his place on the ground.

“Quiet You!” The officer said kicking George in his side causing him to groan in pain. “If you aren’t up to no good, than what are you doing in this neighborhood, eh?”

“We live here!” Fred yelled.

“I said QUIET!” The officer shouted lifting fred’s head from the car and slamming it into the hood. It would leave the boy with a bruised cheek for a good week or so. “You two don’t have anything on your person but…” The man turned to leer at her letting the leash slacken slightly in his hands and forcing Luna to scramble back to avoid getting bitten by the dog. “You could be using this one as your mule! Ill have to be thorough with my search.”

“You, stay away from her!” George shouted.

“Luna, run!” Fred said

The man turned to the two boys drawing his Billy club and releasing the dog on Luna.

In that moment of panic, looking at the approaching dog's mouth open wide and seeing the officer raise his weapon, something clicked.

The man was unprepared when his own well-trained police dog turned about and sank his teeth into the man’s neck.

Fred and George jumped up immediately and began to run with their hands still cuffed behind their backs. George squatted down in front of the scared girl and offered his back. “Hop on Little Quibbler.” Said urgently.

“We’re getting out of here!” Fred yelled frantically.

Luna clutched her older friends back and held on as they ran from the scene of the crime. No one was going to tell the police what actually happened here. Everyone knew that it would be trouble for a few months and then it would be back to more of the same again. No one in the Alley would rat out one of their own. Loyalty was the most important thing to hold on to if they were to find any place in this world.

-o0O0o-

“ _After **ten** years he finally shows up; I was beginning to worry that he had passed on after all but I should know better than to doubt my instincts. Now I only wish it was this easy to find the crumpplehorned snorkaks.” _This was the train of thought of one Xenophilius Lovegood he had had spent the past years going through all his channels for even a rumor of the missing Harry Potter, and just the other day he had got word that the boy had shown up as a student at Hogwarts of all places. He loved good news.

The school was a repurposed stronghold, built as a last line of defence against the Mundanes, today both Diagon and Noctorn had sponsored the establishment on and off since the 20’s. there had even been some rather heated turf wars fought over the castle in the past.

Xeno should have honestly seen this coming however, it was too convenient for Dumbledore to have inserted himself as headmaster and re opened the school merely a year after Voldemort’s ‘death’. Of course, Harry would wind up in Hogwarts when he reached 11.

Xeno Marveled at the immaculate stone work of the halls he was joyously skipping through. It was a veritable maze of marble hallways that turned and split and looped back on themselves in impossible ways. The walls lined with doors of many shapes and colors, each leading to a different base of operations in the country. That the Goblin National Bank had assisted in its creation was just one of the more baffling things about the under-ground tunnels. The Bank (more like Mafia) was notoriously hostile to Magicals and Mundanes alike

Xeno was pulled from his thoughts as a heavy iron door swung open into his path and he was fairly certain he broke his nose when he forgot to tell his feet to stop moving. Why some of the doors opened outward he wasn’t sure, he was sure however that nargles had something to do with it.

“Oh, Poor Philly… That looked like it hurt.” A dark-skinned woman said as she closed the door behind her. “Are you Alright?”

The first word that came to Xeno’s mind upon looking up at the woman was “ _Pointy_ ”. She was skinny, her joints meeting at sharp angles. Her wide mouth pulled into an even wider grin that framed her too-sharp teeth. Her curly hair was pulled back into a tight bun. Leaving her neck, and the large ugly scar the marred it, visible to all.

“I am quite alright Ms. Thomas.” He said quickly casting an _episky_ on his bleeding nose. “how are your patients?”

“Pains in the ass is what they are.” Julia Thomas responded. “You would think that if they are so willing to put themselves in danger than they would be willing to just lay down in a simple bed but NOOOO! Every last one of them seems to be terrified of coming into the room. It was the same when I worked for the Aurors.”

“Perhaps it’s your track record with anesthetics.” Xeno offered

“Not my fault I didn’t go to school to specialize in anesthesia. I get it wrong two or three times and suddenly everyone’s a little bitch. It’s not like magical healing is any less painful.” She grumbled “You seem to be in a good mood Got good news for Ciro, or what?” Ms. Thomas asked with a grin.

“Actually, quite good news!” Xeno said beaming “But I shall say no more. I bid you good day Ms. Thomas.” She only nodded as she continued down the hall.

Without preamble or knocking Xeno entered the room. Ciro knew when someone was coming to meet with him, that or was just always ready for the eventuality.

Ciro sat behind his desk looking expectantly at Xeno. “I have received word that Harry potter has been sighted boarding the train to Hogwarts.”

“Hogwarts? Really?” Ciro pondered. “Do we have any clues to the school’s current goals? To Dumbledore’s current goals?”

“I’m afraid not. We have kept an eye on the students seen attending but no discernible bias has been spotted thus far. The roster has been, thus far, extremely evenly distributed. Though perhaps that also means the number of newly gifted are much larger than previous instances of the school opening.” Xeno answered. “Perhaps it is an attempt to further the Rotfang conspiracy by using children to spread misinformation throughout the underground, or maybe some other heinous plot we have yet to discover. Either way we cannot begin to postulate without the full student roster.”

“For that we would have to identify and investigate every student we can. A task we cannot hope to accomplish, especially as the train is already long gone by this point.” Ciro said leaning back. “And the good news?”

Xeno chuckled. “As it happens, there is a magical artifact that we can get our hands on. The Magical registry. The book that can tell you the location of every magical child in Britain”

“A mythical object so I have been told.” Ciro answered.

“If only. An immensely talented and knowledgeable witch was coerced into creating the artifact in the 1800’s as a tool to further the Bladder Ghoul plot. It was stolen from the Ministry before it could be put to proper use and the witch responsible for its creation was assassinated.”

“You know where it ended up.”

“In the hands of the Unspeakables. Last I had heard it was in the possession of one named ‘Croaker’.” Xeno said, promptly pulling the relevant files from his coat. Ciro nodded

The door opened and two hooded figures walked into the office. The wore very expensive sues over top of hoodies and domino masks around their eyes. The prankster kings of both the Department of Research and Development and the Department of Acquisitions and Retrieval. Each was the head of one of those departments. As to which one did what, even Xeno didn’t know. These were the Walker twins.

“Wotcher Xeno!” One of the tins greeted with a broad smile. “Padrone. We got the feeling you’d be wanting to see us.”

“What pray tell could you need our humble services for?” the other twin asked with a mock bow.

 “Just in time” Ciro said looking at his watch. “You are to retrieve a high priority item from an unspeakable, Lovegood will have more information for you.”

“An unspeakable you say?”

“Could this be a challenge?”

“We can only hope brother.”

“Thirty pounds of gold says we can do it drunk.”

“It’s a deal, brother.”

The Walkers turned to Xeno and tilted their heads to the left in a curious manner as they spoke in unison. “So, what have you got for us Mr. Quibbler?”

Mr. Lovegood already felt worn out and felt that by the time he finished with the twins he would be unlikely to make it to his bed before he would collapse.

-o0O0o-

Luna sat atop a stool happily swinging her feet. Usually she would be helping her Auntie Faire serving drinks but the bar was relatively quiet at the moment so she was given a break. She loved the bar. There were so many interesting characters that came for drinks from humans to vampires to goblins. There was even a homunculus and a sphinx sitting at one of the tables. She always wondered how a bar like the leaky cauldron got more business than they did; it was such a dingy little dive.

During her breaks Luna always enjoyed watching Auntie Faire mix and serve drinks faster than they could be ordered despite the presence of no fewer than 20 patrons. The movement of her arms reminded Luna of a spider managing its web. It made Luna strangely thirsty.

“Auntie Faire.” The Bar master turned to the small girl with an eyebrow raised, she found Luna’s way of addressing her endearing, if a little puzzling. “I would like salt rum with chili-pepper juice and chocolate please. And can I get an umbrella?” Several of the patrons who were not regulars of the bar looked at her as if she had lost her mind, finding it strange that a ten-year-old girl would be ordering alcohol. Luna honestly didn’t understand their logic, why care about underage drinking when the magical population broke just about every other law from j-walking to murder if there was a need to do so? People could get hung up on the weirdest things.

To everyone who was watching’s surprise the drink arrived in short order and without fuss, it even had the umbrella. To all the regulars they shook their heads at the order, they were used to the weird shit the Lovegood family considered palatable.

Luna was halfway through her drink, and quite a good bit tipsy, when two red headed teens approached the bar with a little swagger to their step.

“good day madam”

“we’ll have two shots…”

“…of your finest…”

“…and strongest…”

“…Fire whisky.” The twins said together

“no.” was the only reply they got from Madam Faire.

“but see here…” said George (Luna could always tell them apart).

“…you just gave dear…” said Fred

“…sweet…”

“…innocent…”

“little Loony a drink!” George finished

“and she’s three years younger than us.” Fred added helpfully.

Faire fixed the two of them with her serious gaze “yes I did. Because Luna works for it, while all the two of you do is prank my customers. Not to mention that you can’t hold your liquor and don’t tip.”

“Oh well” the twins said with dual shrugs.

“It was worth a shot dear Forge.”

“We won’t give up yet Gred.”

“Indeed. If at first you don’t succeed…”

“Try, try again.”

“Insistent little shits aren’t you.” Faire said, she didn’t seem to care in the slightest that she was talking to children. “didn’t your mother teach you any respect before you tried to join the circus?”

“Nope.” Fred replied

“Oh, but how she tried” George commented dreamily, remembering how they would prank her to no end at every opportunity.

A hooded individual appeared at the bar and the twin’s dreamy expressions changed to those of respect. Their mother might have failed but they would always recognize a superior prankster.

“Good day twins, madam, and you little Luna-tic”

“Hello Left Leg.” Luna replied dreamily. Like with the two red heads she could always tell the difference between the two Walkers

“Left Leg?” Faire questioned eye brow raised, with an amused smirk on her normally stern face.

“Well sure…” Left began

“It’s because we Walk” Both walkers said in unison. Right leg had appeared seemingly from nowhere next to his brother. No one appreciated the joke however and the two twins just shrugged it off. “Two Fang n’ Cures if you’d please” they continued together

The Fang n’ Cure was the strongest shot the bar served and the only one that Luna was not allowed to mix, with good reason. Two tinny shot glasses no larger than a thimble were placed before the Walkers. Floating atop of a layer of bright green liquid was an oily black substance that Luna knew was Basilisk venom. At the bottom of the glass was the reason Luna wasn’t allowed to make them, the antidote to the venom. If it mixed with the alcohol before it was ingested than it wouldn’t work, people dropping dead at the bar would be bad for business. As it was the drink had to be swallowed in one go without a drop remaining or they would drop dead anyway. However, it apparently had quite the effect, hallucinations, euphoria, numbness, and temporary parsletongue for whatever reason. Most of the people who drank it and lived reported it to be the most intense high of their lives.

The walker twins downed the drinks in less than a second. Not a whole lot changed about them, but their mischievous and confident smirks became full blown grins.

“Thanksssss ssssspider woman.” They said in unison. Even the slur in their words was perfectly coordinated. Faire looked slightly irritated at the comment but did not offer a rebuttal.

“Well off to do that job, Ssssssssso I can collect my gold” one of the twins proclaimed

“We’ll be sssssssssober before it’ssssssssss finissssshed and **I’ll** be the one collecting hissssss gold.” The other twin stated as they staggered off. They never outright lost their balance but they seemed to sway dangerously from side to side. Luna was surprised they could even find the door; then again, they always had impeccable sense of direction.

By this time Luna had finished her drink and decided that she wanted to see what her mother was up to. She said farewell to her friends and left. Went to the wall were the various exits were located chose the second door to the right and exited out from the ground floor of an apartment building that seemed to slump in on itself, the sounds of people within assured any who passed that the building was still occupied.

Climbing the stairs to the third floor she entered into a service closet and found herself in another stair well. Contrary to whatever common-sense people believed you had to walk up to go down and down to go up and left to go right. It took some getting used to apparently.

After a little bit of walking she opening the seventh door she came across on the ninth landing and found herself in a small maze of corridors that were clearly underground from all the piping and wiring along the ceiling. However, this was the only department that those not in the Trade Union could enter, giving them a "safe" place to practice and learn magics. Well so long as they could even find the place that is.

 Most of the doors were open giving a clear view into each room, a mess of notes and work stations greeted here, upon the tables were anything from lumps of clay, to beakers of bubbling concoctions, rare metals reduced to varying states of matter, and weapons of almost every century. The chaos and experiments were not confined within the rooms alone however; the hallway was more often than not the impromptu testing grounds for many experiments. The walls bore scorch marks and cracks, many of these marks were accompanied by notes written directly onto the walls in varying colours of marker or chalk. The damage and debris were reminiscent of a battle ground and Luna had to step around potholes and papers while at the same time avoiding frantically scurrying scientists and Magicals. Despite the openness of the department there were some closed doors that her mom had always warned her away from entering, so far, her curiosity hadn’t gotten the better of her.

This was Luna’s favorite place. The bar was nice and comfortable and the patrons were able to satisfy her curiosity to an extent. But nowhere satisfied her and at the same time left her thirsting for more like this place, her thirst for knowledge went far beyond mere curiosity here. She learned everything here, this place was her school. Science and magic came together here the way it didn’t anywhere else. Everything developed and created here was essential in the operations of the rest of the Crossroads Trade Union and to the lives of many of the Magicals that lived in the Ally besides.

Luna came to a door that had been blown clean off its hinges, it had never been fixed since the accident and since then it had been covered in notes on varying subjects from the door’s composition to equations for the force required to damage the door. Compliments of her mother.

She peered inside and saw a spectral figure, notes floating in the air all around it. Pens frantically writing seemingly on their own accord, black boards quickly loosing blank space as equations were written and rewritten atop one another. The Spectre’s very strangely alive eyes were almost literally glowing with curiosity as it surveyed a small red stone. The specter was none other than the research department’s resident poltergeist as of two years ago and head supervisor, Lysandra Lovegood, Luna’s mother.

“what are you looking at?” Luna said grabbing her mother’s attention.

“MOONBEAM!” the poltergeist cheered swooping down to embrace Luna. The hug lacked the warmth of a mother’s embrace but the cold arms were filled with an energy that Luna found unique and exciting. She would rather have one of her mother’s freezing hugs than a smothering one. “Have you been drinking? You feel like you’ve been drinking. Oh well. I’m looking at this cool rock-stone-crystal-thingy. Some man named Flannel dropped it off saying something about not wanting to continue living, which I can understand totally. I’m looking at how it effects various magicanandnonmagicalsubstances and I made GOLD! This rock is so cool! It absorbs magic and purifies bloods and I think I made ambrosia! But it might just be some other gold colored liquid, I canttellsincei’mdeadandall. Oh, look at me, I’m rambling. That’s enough of that. How’s my favourite little researcher? I haven’t seen you in hours!”

She wasn’t so full of energy or nearly so chatty when she was alive, it must just be part of being a poltergeist. She also had a tendency to mess with other people’s experiments, and while it annoyed them it probably had more to do with her curiosity than her being a poltergeist. Luna smiled at her mother’s excitement. “I’m fine. yes, I have been drinking. That is interesting. I could try some of the ambrosia if you’d like?”

“NO! I don’t know what it could do! And if it does work, you’d be ten forever! You’d always be so cute but you’d miss out on so much. Besides it’s not the human testing stage yet! Let start with a mouse…” a small dropper filled with a gold liquid floated over to a glass case with a small white mouse inside. The mouse lifted its head to examine the dropper and took an experimental lick of the golden fluid. The mouse stopped moving at this point, Luna could understand this, it must be very hard to move when you’re made of gold. “ooooh the Goblins are going to just LOVE this stuff!” She filled a vial with the liquid and labeled it “Midas’ medicine.”

Luna’s smile widened at her mother’s enthusiasm. She loved her family, and this included everyone in the Crossroads Trade Union. They were always so interesting!

-o0O0o-

The twins were arguing. The job had been easier than they had expected it to be. So easy in fact they had the sneaking suspicion that they had been given the book willingly. They preferred to think it was all skill however, so they ignored that thought.

They had delivered the book to Ciro and decided to take a leisurely stroll down to the research department, see if they couldn’t stave off their boredom.

 “I told you, brother. Pay up.”

“No way! **I** am still drunk. You pay up”

“I want a lump of gold the size of a small dog.”

“OOOOOH! I can do that!” a very enthusiastic voice shouted.

“What can you do?” The twins felt a magical signature coming from an object to their left that radiated light but didn’t displace any mater. That’s what ghosts felt like, and there was only one ghost in the entirety of the company that they knew of.

“I can make a lump of gold the size of a dog.”

“ **Make** gold?” the twin’s interest had been piqued.

“Well, yeah. I seem to have created a substance that turns organic matter into Gold! Not absolutely **pure** gold mind, there’s iron and other heavy metals present as well, but it is pure by human standards at least.”

“You’re serious?”

“Of course!”

“Damn Cat, the goblins are gonna love you.” A thought occurred to the thief/researcher “so… you’d turn a dog into gold?” the twins questioned tilting their heads a little to the left

“Yep!”

“You’d kill a dog?”

“Well…there isn’t any evidence that the animals actually **die**.” The poltergeist stated hesitantly

“Is there any evidence that they don’t?”

“…”

“Right, well then, we respectfully decline the offer. We don’t want to put a poor little puppy through that on our account.”

“Well if you don’t want me to make you a new one, I can give you one of the five or six I’ve got laying around.” At this the twins felt very sad.

The thought of those cute little puppy dog eyes staring into their souls as their life turned into money. The twins felt like something just died inside.

“Umm… no thanks Cat…”

“…you keep them.”

The ghost seemed a bit put out, and just a little bit confused. She didn’t seem to see what was wrong with this. It probably had something to do with being dead. It would appear death just didn’t have the same meaning for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I envision Hogwarts as a place that has been used for any and every purpose since it's founding. a kind of safe haven. and since Magicals are denied access to adequate schooling, perhaps a few of the underground element have invested heavily in it. a useful little indoctrination facility... i mean... school.
> 
> Dean Thomas's aunt shows up (OC i guess). don't know why i decided to throw her in, maybe because Thomas's home life would be an interesting anecdote, what with the secret wizard dad and a bunch of normal half siblings.
> 
> The latter half is the set up for the true start of our tale. coming into year 2.
> 
> and finally i end on a bit of levity since there was some heavy subject matter and i felt it needed to have a release at the end.


	3. Bird Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio get their first real assignment and are off to Hogwarts. and Hermione almost worries herself into a panic attack when her friends don't show up.

Luna and the Twins walked through Southampton; their destination was a small park towards the edge of the city.

“Did you think this day would ever come?” Fred asked from Luna’s left.

“No. dear brother. I did not.” George answered from her right.

“Why would it be a surprise?” Luna wondered aloud, “it would be quite strange for us to be left without, to be honest.”

“yes, strange for you.” George said.

“but you’re the daughter of a Lieutenant.” Fred added.

“while we are just a couple run-aways.”

“dashing and cunning run-aways.”

“but still, nobodies.” They speak in unison.

“I guess that makes you my subordinates then?” Luna asked.

“well…” Fred started

“we don’t want you to get full of yourself…” George said hesitantly

“That’s nice of you, but don’t worry. I’m too full of ideas to fit, I think.” Luna interjected.

“then yeah.” George admitted.

“You would be our boss.” Fred joined.

“Well then if you’re expected to work for me then of course you would get your own.” Luna reasoned. “plus, I do believe we will need them.”

“oh?” They inquired in unison. “New work?”

“something more than owl jobs?” Fred asked hopefully.

“or canary work?” George asked a light grimace on his face, remembering some of the petty work they had done in the past.

“no more magpie jobs?” Fred asked, this time sounding maybe a little disappointed.

“It couldn’t possibly be a swallow assignment.” George sounded doubtful but hopeful at the possibility.

“I don’t really know.” Luna answered. “it’s just a feeling really.” Luna looked up as they walked around the corner. “Oh look, we’re here, and just in time too.” A taxi was parked just down the road from the park, a plump middle-aged man with a ruddy nose stood outside the cab taking a smoke break. He would play with his wedding ring on occasion, the signal they were to look out for. Luna walked up to the man. “Excuse me, are you on the clock?”

“Not for another 5 minutes, bugger off.” The man said looking at what was left of his cigarette.

“Oh, please sir. We are awfully tired.” Luna recited in character. “we’ve been walking all day and just want to get home before it gets too dark.”

“You got money?” Giving them each a discerning look.

“I can get Mom to pay you when we get there!” Luna assured quickly.

The man nodded. “You better not be having one over on me. The three of you get in the back.”

“Oh, Thank you sir!” Fred said getting into the cab first. Luna stepped into the car second and was quickly sandwiched between the twins, it was rather cramped and the three of them squirmed slightly as no one was able to get comfortable.

The man sat down behind the wheel. “right. You lot.” The man said as he began driving down the street. “Some woman left her purse in the back; I don’t want you brats snooping through it. Understand?”

They nodded and looked down at the small black hand bag. Fred and George put their hands on Luna’s shoulder. Luna herself was counting the number of right turns the cabbie made. At the seventh turn Luna picked up the bag and with a pop and a twist they were deposited in a graceless heap in the middle of what looked to be someone’s sitting room.

“Oof. Whoever made that one needed to spend a few more minutes on it, cause that was rough.” George said untangling himself from his brother

“Ah good. You’re here.” An old man said as he got up from his cushy chair by the fire place. “no time to be lying around now, we have measurements that need taking! Chop! Chop!” he was a squat old man with a beard that looked like a spayed-out paint brush. He bustled about on stumpy legs, quickly plucking each of them off the ground and rushing them to the next room.

It was an important day for Luna and the twins. A day that was perhaps the single most important in any witch or wizard’s life, and a day that precious few ever got to experience.

It was the day the three of them would be given their wands.

The room was full, from end to end, floor to ceiling with shelf upon shelf of small boxes. If this was ever found by the authorities then it would be the bust of the century.

Wands were the single most illegal items in the world. Merely possessing one was grounds for jail time, and so long as there was any evidence at all then you wouldn’t even get a trial. Using one, or rather getting caught using one, was grounds for life imprisonment without parole. In some countries the sentence was still the removal of the witch’s wand hand. But illegality never really stopped Magicals from much.

Most never truly got the opportunity to hold a wand, making do with slowly learning to control their wandless magic. Though most went on to find creative ways around that problem, potions and magical items or even some more esoteric foci.

Luna knew for a fact the even without wands the twins had been extremely adept at brewing potions and building other contraptions. And they always carried on their person a number of seemingly normal items with a number of secondary features built into them, just in case. And perhaps that alone could have served them well enough for the rest of their lives, but nothing was quite like the control and versatility of a wand.

“quickly, quickly!” The man said. Sending a number of measuring devices to fly around them with a gesture. “We have precious little time, and the sooner we get you out of here the better!”

First up was Fred who held his right arm out for the instruments to float over. The wand maker asked random questions. About the weather in places Fred could never have been. Or which color tie Fred though he should wear to meet a girl for the first time.

He did also ask about what Fred had done in his early life. Did he eat his veggies? Did he cause trouble? Brush his teeth? How often did he floss? Hobbies? Was there a girl he fancied?

The wand maker didn’t wait for answers and Fred was forced to answer whatever questions he could eventually taking it as a challenge and answering with jokes and firing back questions of his own.

“Hmmm.” The wand maker stepped back. “Dogwood, I think.” He bustled to the back of the room quickly and returned with a small stack of wands. “Hand out!” The wand maker said.

George did as asked. The wand maker took him by his shoulders and turned him towards a blank wall. Once pointed in a direction that wouldn’t destroy any of his hard work the wand maker began rapidly placing wand in Fred’s hands and removing them just as quickly.

There were sparks and spontaneous fires. Sounds of cats fighting and nails on chalk board. It was about a minute of swapping and then suddenly there was a toss up between two wands. One 10 and a quarter inches and produced a steady stream of sparkling sand that fell from wand’s tip, the other was the same length and produced a number of tiny fire-works that exploded with joyous pops in the air around them.

Wand number two was the winner.

The wand maker Looked at George then and before George could react tossed the other wand to him. George reacted quickly, catching the wand, and a steam of tiny shooting stars flew from the tip. “well that was convenient!” The wand maker said with a sigh. “You there, first one; dogwood and Occamy feather ten and a quarter inches. Adaptable and unrivaled with transfiguration, but don’t bore it or you will wake up one day and not be able to find it.” He then turned to George. “And number two, your wand is dogwood, again, with Tebo tusk, ten and a half inches. A strong wand for charms and who’s spells will be… persistent in their effects. Your wand will _highly_ dislike direct confrontations such as duels, so do the both of you a favour and just hex your enemy in the back.” The wand maker waved them both off and turned to Luna

“Now you…” and the questions ensued. Like last time the questions were broad in range and almost entirely unrelated to one another. Luna answered each question easily enough she thought. The wand maker would often pause to think over her answers or even ask follow-up questions. It wasn’t long before they were having an actual conversation. He was a pleasant enough man, brusque and impatient, but not ill meaning. He also artfully dodged any questions about where they were and what his name was. The man was cautious, rightly so, given his profession.

“Hmm…” The man rand his fingers through his beard, untangling knots as he did. “Sycamore or Beech I believe.” The man went back and grabbed a good number of boxes from several distant shelves. And so, it began. There were several burn marks and broken chips of brick from the wall she was forced to face. The Twins had taken to covering their ears and would not uncover them, they had said, until Luna had her wand.

In the end it came down to two possible wands.

“Hmmm…” the wand maker looked both wands over, weighing them in his hands. “How is it you have been controlling your magic up to this point? Your method as it were.”

“Oh, I don’t. I trust it, you see” Luna said happily. “I’ve found that it will act in my best interest, very considerate too.”

“I had thought so.” The wand maker up the two wands. “Both of these wands are powerful, certainly, but extremely temperamental and independent.”

He held forward a long beech wand. When Luna took the wand in hand it began to glow and send pleasant tingles up her spine. “Beech, 12 inches Thunderbird tail feather, fiercely protective of its owner and liable to cast spells of its own accord or make sounds in order to warn and protect its wielder. But it is quite the critic and its loyalty is easily lost should the wielder perform actions it deems… unwise. A powerful wand for most magics to be sure, but excels far beyond most in spells that require precision or subtlety”

He then held up a shorter sycamore wand. This wand suffused Luna with a pleasant warmth and a need to bounce in place. “Sycamore, 9 inches, Phoenix tail feather. This wand is excitable. It will act of its own accord sometimes for your protection, and often out of boredom. Don’t leave it alone, and don’t become predictable. This wand composition is liable to burst into flames if left idle for too long by its wielder. Powerful to the extreme, though very slow to allow its wielder control over these capabilities and quick to lock them off again should loyalty be lost.”

“That is quite the pickle.” Luna said. “They sound too proud to be mere back up wands.”

“A correct assessment I believe.”

“Then I will take the Beech wand.” Luna said holding the wand once more and letting her magic loose, letting her new partner know that she trusted the wand absolutely. A tingling sensation ran up her spine and seemed to massage her scalp pleasantly. “she is very affectionate.” Luna said smiling.

The wand maker merely coughed and held his hand out. “And my payment?” Fred handed a fat envelope over to the man, who nodded to the three of them. “password for the purse is ‘Headquarters’, it will take you to the Crow and Apple. Now get.” The man said tossing the purse port-key to them.

“Thank you.” Luna said brightly.

“Yeah, Thanks mate.” Fred said with a cheeky grin.

“Keep up the good work.” George chimed in putting his arms around his companion’s shoulders.

“Headquarters.” Luna said and with a twist and a pop they were gone.

-o0O0o-

Luna found her current circumstances odd. She never thought that she would ever be sent to a school, or that she would even get the opportunity. As a magical it was illegal for her to go to a school that wasn’t officially designated for Magical children, and the quality of education there was abysmal. She initially didn’t see why she would have to, she had access to all the best education she could ever hope to have and more already thanks to the research department. But Uncle Ciro had told her that it was to be her first true assignment, her instructions being to infiltrate the school and if possible, retrieve one Harry James Potter.

So here she was with the Weasley twins, who were given the assignment alongside her. The scene before them was fairly unremarkable. A bunch of families sending their children away to boarding school, it was London, the explanation wasn’t that unbelievable.

“Don’t look now.” Fred said quietly. “Pussy patrol.”

A man with was walking through the station, eyeing every seemingly random object or wall suspiciously. He wore a police officer’s uniform with a protective vest and, astoundingly, a gun at his hip. These officers were the only ones allowed to carry in the country, their work required they confront Magicals. By government decree Magicals were always considered to be holding a deadly weapon. If Magicals were armed then an officer can bring to bare “appropriate” force at a moments notice. For these officers in particular it was their job to hunt down and investigate magical crime, the Paranormal Response Teams.

As to why they were called the pussy patrol. At the man’s feet walked a cat. It wore a collar with various little badges and tags and would, like the man, sniff at every wall it came to or at the heels of anyone who walked by. The man was trained in advanced perception and mental shielding, allowing him to, maybe not see through magical tricks, but to know when they were being used on him. The cat sniffed out magic itself and was the true problem in the equation.

A few of the students were looking nervously at the officer. Luna was sure it would only be a matter of time before the operation was found. Though there must be something right? This couldn’t be the only time in ten years a PRT agent had come around after all.

Just then a man with a suitcase walked close by, causing the cat to hiss at the luggage and quickly the man ran in the opposite direction taking the officer on a chase through the crowds. A jailbird it looked like, A small freebie to the authorities to allow larger investments to slip past their notice.

“Poor guy.” George said quietly.

“Idunno, brother.” Fred said. “Three meals a day, living with other Magicals, roof over their head…”

“Huh. Put like that.” George conceded. “Guess some blokes just live that life.”

“He’ll be looked after I think.” Luna said coming to a wall between platform 9 and 10. A wall people seemed to just be walking through without receiving so much as a second glance.

Luna marched confidently through the wall followed closely by her two partners. They were practically blinded when they came to the other side by the sight of a hideous and shiny fire-truck red steam train.

“That…” Fred started

“…is the single…” George continued

“…most hideous…”

“…fucking train….”

“…we have ever laid eyes on.” They finished together. “What do you think Loony?”

“It needs more green.” Luna stated matter-a-factly if a little dreamily. The train to her was monochromatic and lost its novelty after the initial ‘ **wow** ’ moment. Maybe if every cart was a different color…?

 “I would have said less red.” Fred said “maybe blue?”

“No, no dear brother. Luna has the right of it. Green is the best way to go.”

“No, imagine it a deep dark blue. Like the ocean.”

“Blue is a weird color for a train, Green would be good.”

“I say, Blue”

“I say Green.”

“Blue!”

“Green!”

“Blue!”

“Green!”

“Blue!”

“Green!”

“LUNA!” they shouted in unison.

“orange.” Luna provided helpfully. The twins thought about it for a second then looked at each other.

“Orange it is.”

“Should we set up a petition dear brother?”

 “Why ask permission…”

“…when it’s easier to ask forgiveness?”

“but how will we do it?”

“color changing charm…”

“…or paint?”

“is the train warded?”

“or charmed?”

“Well, we will just have to find out won't we, brother-o-mine.”

Before the twins could continue with their antics, they caught sight of something that seemed to make them a little jumpy. Luna looked towards whatever had grabbed their attention and saw a mass of red hair at the other end of the station. The twins each grabbed one of Luna’s arms and somehow managed to run through the crowed carrying both Luna and all their luggage onto the train.

Luna had forgotten that the twins had run away from home. They had joined the Trade Union three years ago, before that they had apparently been part of the circus. It seemed they were not very keen on reuniting with their family after so many years.

They found an empty compartment quickly enough. Closing the door behind them, Luna drew her wand. Wishing for privacy, began casting a number of spells. on the door. Avoidance charms, anti detection, locking charm, door jammer, and an illusion to make the compartment look full from the outside. Many of the spells were placed down by her wand, upon its own accord, and Luna could feel its approving tingle run up her spine.

George spoke up. “That’s cool and all Luna…”

“But what if we want to leave?” Fred finished his brother’s thought.

“Why would you leave?” Luna asked curiously.

“Well when we have to change into our school clothes.” Fred answered.

 “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that, I don’t mind you seeing me nude.” Luna said nonchalantly while pulling a stack of files out of her luggage.

“What about us?” George asked taking a few folders from Luna

“Would being seen naked make you uncomfortable?” Luna asked tilting her head to the left a little. She handed another folder to Fred.

“Yes.” Both twins answered in unison.

“Odd.” Luna stated simply. “I can always undo it when you want some privacy if it makes you feel any better.”

“Thanks.” The twins said in unison.

“Don’t mention it. Now I believe we have more important things to discuss than your insecurities.” Both twins huffed indignantly at her comment but didn’t hold it against her. If anybody else was in their shoes they would be teasing them relentlessly.

“Yes. Yes. If we remember correctly…” Fred started in their usual manner of speech.

“…you want us to stay close to Harry, yeah?” George finished

“That is correct. Your job is to collect information that either confirms or updates the information in the files you are currently holding.” Luna elaborated.

“Anything in particular?” They asked in unison.

“Just behavior, personality, regular occurrences. Things of that nature.”

“So… everything?” Fred asked

Luna nodded “Pretty much. while you do that, I shall survey the castle as well as the teachers and student body.”

“It seems like you’re taking the lion’s share of the work.” George observed looking slightly concerned.

“You sure you don’t want us to do some of that?” Fred offered. It would not do to have their friend and ‘team leader’ run herself into the ground.

“Oh, thank you. But I’ll be fine, really.” Her tone was genuinely grateful. “Just do whatever you can to provoke a reaction from the student body. That alone should be enough help.”

“gladly ma’am.” The twins barked Saluting with large grins plastered on their faces.

Before Luna could continue, the door to the compartment opened startling the three. It went without saying that they did not expect anyone to even be able to approach the door let alone open it. But there it was, open.

“Sorry to interrupt.” A bushy haired girl said, sticking her head into the compartment. “You wouldn’t have happened to see Harry Potter or Ron Weasley, would you?” she asked hopefully.

“I am afraid not. Have you looked under the seats?” Luna asked the girl she recognized from the reports as Hermione Granger.

“Oh. Uh… no. Sorry to disturb you all, when I noticed the spells on the door, I had thought they would be here.” Hermione said starting to back out of the compartment.

Fred raised a brow at this turning to Luna. “She didn’t seem to have any problem getting through them, considering all the time you spent locking us in here.”

Luna just shrugged. “I’ll just have to try harder next time then.”

Hermione stopped and looked back at Luna. “You cast all those spells?” Hermione asked looking surprised. “You seem kind of young for that kind of magic.” She looked around the compartment and noticed that all three of them lacked house colors. “Sorry. You’re all new to Hogwarts?”

Luna answered Hermione’s first question with a half-truth. “Yes, we are new. My companions were tutored before we heard about Hogwarts if you were wondering about their age.”

“I see.” Hermione said seeming to accept the excuses.

“I am Luna Lovegood. It is a pleasure to meet you.” Luna said holding her hand out to the girl who paused briefly before introducing herself something that did not escape Luna’s notice.

“I’m Hermione granger.” she said taking Luna’s offered hand. Luna noted the other girl’s feather light grip.

“I’m Gred he’s Forge.” “I’m Forge he’s Gred.” The twins said on the tails of one another.

Hermione looked at them confused for a while. “so…” she began before lapsing into silence and staring at the two some more. “…your names are Fred and George?”

The twins looked at each other before their faces split into proud grins. “She got it in one!” Fred said pleasantly surprised.

“She’s a smart cookie this one.” George said nodding his head.

“thank… you?” Hermione said hesitantly. Before snapping out of her confusion and moving to the door “Sorry, it was a pleasure meeting you but I need to find my friends.”

“No worries. We’ll see you at the feast.” Luna said with a friendly smile as the bushy haired girl left. Once the door was closed and Hermione’s footsteps receded Luna spoke once more. “She was quite bright, not very confidant unfortunately.”

“She wasn’t?” George asked

“One can tell a lot from a hand shake.” Luna said by way of explanation. “Not to mention her habit of apologizing.”

“She’s a newly gifted according to the files.” Fred supplied.

“I would say that her behavior is par for the course.” George said with a slight frown. Those with magic who were born into Mundane families at best experienced alienation and bullying, more serious cases featured signs of physical abuse, and the worst cases were not alive today to attest to what happened to them. The three in the compartment were relieved to note that Hermione only exhibited minor symptoms of alienation and bullying.

The three friends spent the rest of the train ride alternating between looking over their equipment and engaging in light banter, the twins opting for a direct approach not unlike teasing while Luna countered with subtle jabs that often went unnoticed by the twins. All in all, they would say the journey was enjoyable.

-o0O0o-

“Fir’s Years an’ new stu’ents! O’re here. Fir’s years an’ new stu’ents!” a very large man called out above the throng of students getting off the train. He was about twice as tall as a normal man and three times as wide with a massive black bushy beard. There was no doubt that he was a Half-giant.

Most of the students that gathered near the man opted to keep their distance from him with the few older students standing slightly closer to the rugged and imposing giant. Luna however skipped up to the man happily, the twins following close behind. Giants were all but extinct and half giants an even greater rarity but not one that was entirely unfamiliar to her.

They came to the front of the group right next to a young girl with bright ginger hair who, like Luna, didn’t seem at all intimidated by the giant man before them. Luna was amused when she saw the twins pull their hats more snugly unto their heads to hide their hair from the girl. The twins had told her that they didn’t want to give away the surprise before their dramatic entrance at the feast, but Luna knew they were just stalling.

Luna took the time to look at her surroundings and couldn’t help but find the whole town rather quaint. It was quiet, not small necessarily but there were definitely less people living there then there were buildings. If Luna wasn’t mistaken, this town was a sort of refugee camp in times of emergency, a state that had not come to pass for more than 500 years thankfully.

The grounds keeper, who introduced himself to the gathered students as Hagrid, led them down a long path. After a few minutes of walking the group came to the edge of a lake and were met by a fleet of small boats.

“No more ‘an Four to a boat!” The massive grounds keeper shouted as the students climbed in. The twins stayed with Luna. The other occupant of the boat put the twins on edge, their sister, Ginny if Luna remembered the Twin’s stories correctly. According to them the only regret they had when they left was that they left Ginny behind, it wasn’t like they could’ve taken her with them.

“Ya’ll be getting your firs view o’ Hogwarts in a sec’” the giant called out as they were forced to duck under the hanging appendages of a willow tree. What the students saw was a sight that made their jaws drop and their eyes light up with wonder. It was a castle tall and grand covered in innumerable lights that made it look utterly fantastic with the night sky as its backdrop.

Luna as well as a collection of other students looked at the castle impassively. Luna in particular did something rather uncharacteristic, she scowled. She Had expected a Magic school to be more exciting, more of a mystery, but this anything but mysterious. She had been excited at the prospect of such a mystery but she now found it to be short lived and disappointing. Theatrics that was all it was. This school could easily be located anywhere else, in places more subtly hidden. But everything here was just there to dazzle and wow.  Young impressionable children, many of which not even the slightest bit familiar with anything magical outside of the slurs people called them, would look upon it with admiration maybe even hope. It was a display of strength.

It was down right boorish.

Luna schooled her features before someone noticed, she was supposed to be just another one of the impressionable masses, and she could not let her façade slip so soon. She was fortunate it was so dark out.

Docking at the base of the castle Hagrid led the group through a back door to be greeted by a rather stern old woman. Her expression was such that Luna could not help but imagine Aunty Faire in her place. Luna half listened to the woman, who she recognized as Minerva McGonagall the transfiguration teacher and accomplished brothel proprietress (And spy if her daddy was to be believed), give what was no doubt a very serious speech about rules and houses and respect. She could tell that the Twins were certainly not taking any of what she was saying to heart. One of them was even picking his nose, Luna was sure he was doing it just to be irritating as she did not know George to have such a habit.

Once the stern lady was finished her speech and the students had been left to stand around for a few minutes they were eventually called out into the great hall. It was time for them to be sorted.

Sitting atop a three-legged stool was a tattered old hat. Luna was certain it was magical and noticed that most of the students in the hall were looking to the hat expectantly. So, she waited to see what would happen with the apparently important object.

Suddenly a tear in the hat opened wide as if it were a mouth and out of the enchanted item came… a song.

Luna hummed along to the tune. It was a little out of left field but she found the novelty entertaining at the very least. She wondered if the hat had a name, she was thinking Reginald.

-o0O0o-

Hermione looked around for her friends but did not see them. She had begun to worry a long time ago and now was on the verge of panic. What would Hogwarts be like without them? Without them, she had no one. She would be alone. She supposed she could make other friends. The three she met on the train seemed nice enough. But what if they did not get sorted into her house? What if they didn’t want anything to do with her?

Hermione was brought from the edges of impending emotional breakdown by the calling of a name.

“Lovegood, Luna” the girl she had met on the train, the one who had cast the spells on her compartment door. She had a dazed look on her face, like she was daydreaming. She did not seem to register the majority of the world around her as she stared off into the open air.

“Isn’t she a loony one.” Someone said to their friend down the table.

 Hermione felt this was wrong however. It did not seem to her that the girl was spacey or loony. No, she seemed bored, disappointed, uninterested in everything around her. Hermione could not imagine why a first year, usually full of wonder, seemed to stare impassively at the grand school. She might be reading too much into the girl’s demeanor but Hermione could not shake the feeling that she was right.

She sat upon the stool the hat nearly covering her head completely as it tended to do with the new students and then… nothing.

It was several minutes of nothing before that hat stirred “S- RAVENCLAW!” to Hermione it sounded suspiciously like the hat was about to say Slytherin but she could be mistaken. She was disappointed that the girl was not in her house

“Weasley, Fred.”

Hermione was not aware that Ron had any other siblings coming to Hogwarts this year besides his sister. To her surprise the figure that walked up was none other than one of the twins she had met on the train, without his hat his fiery red hair was proudly displayed atop his head.

Hermione heard a sharp intake of breath from just a few seats down the table. Looking she saw that it was Percy, Ron’s older Brother. He looked angry and hurt. They had history apparently and it was obviously complicated.

“GRYPHINDOR!” the hat called and the red head made his way to the table where he took one of the empty seats beside Hermione and only a little way away from the other Weasley.

“Hello Hermione. Looks like we are in the same house.” He said smiling at her.

Before Hermione could greet him in return. Percy leaned forward and hissed “What are _You_ doing here?” his entire demeanor shouted hostile.

“Why, just going to school dear brother.” Fred said innocently smiling at his brother. Hermione was surprised, she felt that there was probably more to their story than just them being brothers but it was definitely significant, not so surprising when one takes the hair into account.

“Weasley, George”

“I should have known your double would be here with you.” Percy sneered.

“well of course I did. Where’s yours?” Fred asked.

“GRYFFINDOR!”

“Hmph. I'm surprised you’re not in Slytherin. With how you abandoned us.” Percy said.

George sat down. On Hermione’s other side. “How could we abandon you? You’re older, aren’t you?” He then turned to Hermione his smile warmer than the one he presented to his brother. “Hello Hermione. Your friends didn’t show up yet huh?”

Fred then added in. “Well don’t you worry. We have a feeling that we will be seeing them.”

“Weasley, Ginevra!” The hat barely touched her head before it called out “GRYPHINDOR!”

She came over and sat opposite of Hermione and face her two brothers. “Where have you been?” she asked she almost looking like she was about to scold them.

“Circus.” George answered.

“Circus?” Ginny asked.

“Circus.” Fred parroted nodding his head solemnly

“Really?” Hermione asked. It seemed fairly cliché to her.

“Yes.” The twins said simply

“But why did you leave?” Ginny asked looking like she was on the verge of tears.

“We wanted to.” George answered her.

“We had to.” Fred added

“You know what mom is like.”

“We saw an opportunity to get away and we took it.” they looked to Ginny noticing her hurt expression. “We would have loved to take you with us.”

“but we could barely take care of ourselves.”

“Please forgive us.” They said together bowing to their baby sister.

Hermione watched the exchange and found their explanation so blunt and a little harsh. If she was given the chance would she have run away from her own family?

Ginny sighed evidently sympathizing with the twins on some level. “I will think about it.” she still looked angry with them but her words were sincere.

The twins smiled once again. “We won’t let you down.” They said with determination. “By the way, dear sister, you wouldn’t happen to have seen little Ronnikins would you?”

“Hermione here has been fretting over his and Harry’s absence since we met her.”

“I haven’t seen him since I got on the platform.” She answered looking to Hermione. “Your friends with harry?” Hermione nodded. “Ron never mentioned you.” Hermione felt hurt at the statement.

“What about Harry?” Hermione asked hopefully.

Ginny blushed. “I-I haven’t really spoken to him much.”  Hermione sighed; she was relieved. She was not sure that harry had not been a prat behind her back, but without evidence to the contrary Harry was innocent in her book.

She will have to reprimand them for being late when they did show up.

-o0O0o-

“You crashed a car… into the whomping willow.” Hermione stated looking at her friends as Ginny had looked at her brothers at the feast, like she was about to scold them. The newly reunited family members minus Percy had started to get along as the Twins seemed to genuinely miss their baby sister.

“Well… uh…” Harry frantically searched for an explanation; he knew the look Hermione was giving him. “the entrance to the platform… it closed.”

Hermione blinked. “That’s… odd. Do you have any idea why?”

“Not a clue.” Ron answered curtly, which did not go unnoticed by Hermione after what his sister had said.

“Ron, you should take this more seriously. It’s good neither of you were expelled but you missed your own siblings’ sorting.” Hermione admonished.

Ron snorted. “why would I have to be here for that. There was no way my sister would be sorted anywhere other than Gryffindor.”

“That’s so cruel Little Ronikins.” A voice said from the corner of the Gryffindor common room. Ron did not recognize the voice but he certainly did not like the nickname. Whirling around he came face to face with two smiling red heads. “And we were hoping you would be there to witness the moment we became students.”

“what are YOU doing here?” Ron snapped. Glaring daggers at his brothers.

“Learning hopefully.” One of the twins said.

“This is a school after all.” The other spoke up before turning to Hermione. “hey Hermione, looks like they made it here ok.” 

“And you were worried.”

“um. Who are you?” Harry asked hesitantly. There seemed to be bad blood between them and Ron but were on good terms with Hermione. He didn’t know what to make of them.

“Good evening. I am George Weasley and this Handsome son of a bitch to my left if Fred.”

“And I am Fred Weasley and this God among men is my cleaver brother George.”

“umm...” Harry didn’t know how to respond to the strange individuals. “I’m Harry Potter.” He said finally and then flinched sure that they would be like everyone else when they learned who he was.

“It’s nice to meet you Harry. Heard you crashed into the whomping willow, didn’t even notice this school had one of those.” The first twin said with absolutely no change to his face, he just kept the smile.

“You should probably get to school on time next time though. Hermione was worried about you.” The other twin admonished, wagging his finger in Harry’s face.

“Hey you can’t treat him that way. He’s the Boy-who-lived.” Ron said almost shouting.

“well aren’t we all?” one of the twins asked tilting his head to the left slightly.

“No no brother, the fairer sex would be Girls-who-lived.” The other corrected.

Ron looked like he was about to explode at them when Harry and Hermione caught on to what they were getting at. Harry laughed both relieved and genuinely happy at the twins’ reaction. “HAhhahaha. I suppose we are. Hahahaha.” He gasped out between bouts of laughter.

“Glad we could help brighten your evening.” They said together.

“but you really shouldn’t worry your friend like that.”

“be sure to apologize ok?”

“as for us...”

“…we will be turning in for the night.”

“we’ll see you tomorrow yeah?” they both asked together.

“Yeah.” Harry and Hermione said as they bid the twins good night.

“Harry, you can’t trust them.” Ron hissed to Harry and Hermione, though he didn’t seem to pay her much attention. “They are traitors.”

Harry looked concerned and schooled his features into one of determination. “what did they do?” he was evidently expecting to her something atrocious given his history with psychopaths.

Before Ron could say anything to damage the twin’s reputation Hermione butted in with an explanation. “they ran away from home to join the circus.”

Harry blinked a couple times. “Wow. Really?” harry asked looking bewildered.

“that is what I said.”

“They were obviously lying. They probably joined with a death eater family.” Ron butted in.

“Ron, based on what your sister said you have not even heard **about** them for the past couple years. And they certainly had enough stories to back up their claim. Ginny is willing to give them another chance. Why aren’t you?” Hermione said staring Ron down. She trusted them and Ginny trusted them and they had certainly been open about what they had been up to.

Ron just grumbled to himself.

“Right…” harry said interrupting the two before they got into another argument. This one promised to be spectacular and would probably lead to very tense environment in Gryffindor tower. Something he could very much do without. “I’m going to bet that crash took a lot out of _us”_ Harry put extra emphasis on the word in hopes that he would get the point across to Ron but not too much as he was afraid, he would upset Hermione.

“Right... You two should get your rest. The whomping willow could not have been pleasant.” Hermione said as she gave Harry a concerned look over.

“Hermione I’m fine. Sorry for making you worry.” Harry said. Taking the twin’s advice so that they might part for the night on a more pleasant note. He gave his bushy haired friend a hug, rubbing her back comfortingly.

Hermione sighed and returned the hug. “It’s ok Harry. I’m just glad you’re ok.”

Ron simple huffed and marched off to his room. Harry broke the embrace to follow soon after. He was hoping the year would be great or at the very least uneventful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wand lore was really interesting. the twin's wand cores don't actually exist but the creatures do, so i just looked into them and decided how i thought they would behave. No one got a super power wand but Luna's may on occasion do things of its own accord. 
> 
> The PRT is a reference to Worm, though it is just a branch of the police not their own government agency. and in this universe many of their members are squibs.
> 
> I interpret Harry to be something of a peace keeper. Not bending over backwards to avoid confrontations but preferring to steer other people away from fights he would be dragged into.
> 
> while we are going to focus mostly on Luna for most chapters we will be with increasing frequency be pulling Hermione and Harry pov's into the story as we go. So they will get more chances to flesh out.


	4. Everything is Complicated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Hermione attempt to cope with their respective problems after school hours and end up talking to a curious Luna Lovegood who tries to help them gain some perspective. 
> 
> and then Halloween happens.

Tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok… scraaaape.

The sting of onions was making Harry’s eyes tear up slightly, but he just continued to work through it. He was used to it at this point.

Hogwarts was an escape, one he never thought he would ever get. It put him on edge. If he was left idle for too long, he would start to doubt this place. So down into the kitchens he would go to put his hands to use.

He could ignore the nagging feeling that something was wrong. He could ignore the unease that came to him when all was quiet. He could ignore the sensation that he was just as trapped here as he was at the Dursleys.

During the day his friends would be the ones to help him with this, falling into the warm feelings of people who cared about him. But at night, when he awoke staring at the ceiling, a feeling of dread settled into his gut and a terror that compelled him to bolt from the dorms, his friends couldn’t help.

Tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok tok… scraaaape.

He had discovered the kitchens one night when these feelings had taking him on a midnight run through the castle. He had since woken up in the earliest hours of the morning at least twice a week to help out the strange, bat-eared creatures that made the kitchen their home. They never expressed gratitude but rather worked around him, a couple had even taught him a few things.

Tok tok tok tok tok. tok. tok.. tok… tok… Harry slowed his work down as he noticed a presence on his left. Looking up he was met by a pair of curious silver eyes.

“Oh, please don’t stop on my account. Watching your hands work was really quite hypnotic.” The strange girl the eyes belonged to said in a slightly lilting voice.

“Uhm. Sure.” Harry made to continue his work but stopped and looked back at the young girl. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Luna.” Luna said simply looking back at his hands. “And you’re Harry Potter. Its hard not to know who you are.”

“Why did you come down here?” Harry eyed the blue trim on the girl’s robes. Ravenclaw tower was quite the walk from here. Harry’s hands were back at work once more. “I mean. People don’t usually come down here. Apart from me and the elves.”

“Curiosity, I suppose, and it smelled ever so good.” Luna shrugged. Harry nodded his acknowledgment; it was the same way he had found the kitchens after all. He continued to work, eventually finishing with the onions and starting on a vast mountain of potatoes that had appeared on the table before him. Luna continued to watch him work. “Do you enjoy this?” Luna asked at last, breaking the increasingly comfortable silence.

Harry didn’t slow his work at all. “I guess so.” Harry said trying to decide how much he wanted to actually share with this complete stranger. “I didn’t think I did. But… I don’t know... it’s comfortable.”

“So, you have been cooking a long time then?” Luna asked eyeing the myriad of little darkened burn scars on his fore arms and the light cuts that had scarred over on his fingers.

Harry froze. He saw where she was looking now and sighed. He continued his work. “Yeah… I have to cook for my aunt and uncle. Its not like I hate cooking or anything… It’s just.”

“It was just a chore.” Luna said nodding.

“Yeah.” Harry said putting the knife down and stepping away from the counter. An elf was there immediately snapping its fingers and causing the potatoes to peel and cube themselves. He walked towards the pantry. “It was just a thing I always did.”

“comfortable.”

“yeah.” Harry took a seat on top of a few crates of potatoes in the corner of the pantry, he reached up and grabbed an apple for himself and threw one to Luna. Taking a bite as Luna sat across from him in the tiny room. The door to the pantry closed itself, surprising harry only slightly. “you’re not going to tell anybody that I come down here are you.” Harry asked, eyeing her.

“Not many people I could tell, honestly.” Luna shrugged. “No one in my house likes me very much it seems.”

“Why’s that?” harry asked.

“well they aren’t the most social.” Luna said with a shrug. “The wrackspurts prey on them like I’ve never seen before. And I think they find my choice of adornments too eclectic for their tastes.” Harry eyed the colorful cork charm necklace around the girl’s neck and the plum(?) earrings that dangled on either side of her face.

“Can’t possibly see why.” Harry said hiding his snort by biting into his apple. “but that can’t be the only reason. Right?”

“Thank you.” Luna said, taking a bite of her own apple. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to lower your expectations Harry, they’re children after all.”

“ _We_ are children.” Harry pointed out in a moment of humility.

“Exactly.” Luna said as she started eating the core of her apple, soon she was left with only a stem in hand. “They’ll grow out of it eventually. Are you going to finish that?” harry looked down at the apple core in his hands and handed it over without a word and then watched as he ate the new offering.

Harry eyed the stems in his new friend’s hand. “So, you really aren’t here just to find me?” harry asked. Luna merely quirked an eyebrow. “No dire warnings or cryptic messages?”

“Don’t neglect your dental hygiene or you will be furthering the heinous rotfang conspiracy.” Luna said with a straight face.

“Uhmm… thanks? But not what I meant.” Harry said choosing to just move passed the odd statement.

“Then I don’t know what you were expecting of me.” Luna shrugged.

“Never mind.” Harry said chucking to himself briefly. This girl was a lovely burst of levity compared to his other friends. Hermione was good at keeping him on track and responsible. And Ron was great for those moments when harry wanted everything to slow down. Luna, it seemed, was a change of pace. Harry noticed at this point that Luna was not wearing shoes. “Luna. Aren’t your feet cold?”

“They were. But the kitchen is pleasantly warm.” Luna said wiggling her toes. “My shoes have gone missing you see. I suspect the nargles.”

“Your housemates you mean.” Harry pointed out. Luna made an oddly noncommittal gesture with her head. “If you need help you can just tell me.”

“That’s nice of you.” Luna said with a small smile. “I would probably be very happy to have a cute boy come to my rescue.” Harry blushed, slightly embarrassed. “But I’d rather you didn’t. its quite useful you see.”

“Useful?” Harry raised a brow. That was a curious thing to say. But then Luna seemed to have a lot of curious things to say.

Luna shrugged “Nobody hides from you when you are nobody.” Harry sat in silence for a time before responding.

Harry spoke quietly. “Nobody helps you either.”

“No. I suppose they don’t.” Luna said giving Harry a sympathetic look. “being alone truly is a dangerous thing isn’t it.”

“well it’s a good thing we’re not then. Alone I mean.” Harry said forcing himself to give Luna a smile.

“You are quite the story book hero, Aren’t you?” Luna returned with a smile as she stood and walked to the door. “you certainly have the charm figured out.” Harry blushed. “We should do this again. You’re quite fun to talk to for such a quiet boy.”

“Uh. Yeah.” Harry’s smile became a grin. “That would be nice.”

Luna left the room without another word, humming a little tune.

Luna was an oddity, Harry decided. But one that he wanted to talk to again. He still wanted to help the poor girl out with her bullying but would wait for her to ask. He didn’t know why she needed it but it seemed to be something the odd girl was allowing.

He would keep an eye on it and keep his offer on the table for the girl at least.

-o0O0o-

Luna skipped through the halls. Many students gave her odd looks or moved farther out of her way than was strictly necessary. It was mid day and many were heading to the great hall for lunch, most were already there.

Luna spied Harry and his friends walking towards her. Harry had a grin on his face but she noticed how he kept looking over the other students with a critical eye. Probably looking for some sign of her bullies. How thoughtful of him.

Hermione had a slightly bewildered look on her face and seemed to be trying to decide if she should say something. Something about not running in the halls, or maybe just hello?

Ron didn’t seem to have any opinions of her, just moving to the other side of the hallway and proceeding to ignore her. He had cooled down recently, or so the Twins had said. She didn’t expect anything else from him, however, it was not like he knew who she was or had any reason to care.

“Oy! Loony!” Luna stopped and turned around to see none other than Draco Malfoy. He tilted his head towards a quiet corridor. “Come with me. You need to be shown how to behave like a proper pure-blood.” Luna noticed a minor twitch of his nose at the term. Odd.

Luna saw that Harry and Hermione were quickly making their way through the crowed towards them, Ron close behind.

“I do suppose I need to learn how to act.” Luna conceded. “Who better than from an actor.” Luna gestured for the boy to lead the way.

Draco turned about quickly and led them through the crowds. His wand flicked to-and-fro as he walked, not once saying a word. His hair lengthened and turned black. He then lost an inch of height. He pulled a pair of thick rimmed glasses from his pocket and put them on. Opening his robes, that now sported the Ravenclaw blue, he revealed that he was wearing jeans and a muggle sweater. All as they wove through the crowed and in merely 20 seconds.

Not to be outdone Luna pulled her wand and muttered under her breath as she changed her hair to be a mousy brown. Draco handed her a green scarf that she gratefully wrapped around her shoulders after buttoning her robes up. Draco nodded subtly towards her. “That will do.”

Luna watched as Harry, Ron and Hermione ran past them. None of them turning to look at their faces as they did. Once Draco saw that they had turned down a corridor further up he pulled Luna out of the throng and into a disused corridor. An abandoned classroom was easily procured and the door closed and locked behind them.

The minor transfigurations on the two of them were allowed to come to their end. And they were themselves once more.

“How did you change your height like that?” Luna asked curiously. Changing her hair back to her usual dirty blonde.

“Transfiguration on my shoes.” Draco said simply as he removed the fake glasses.

“Was the quick change really necessary?” Luna handed the scarf back to the boy who draped it around his shoulders once more.

“Excuse me for not wanting to deal with the golden trio.” Malfoy sneered. “Its easier for both of us if they just think I’m bullying you.”

“So, what would you be wanting with an innocent first year like me?” Luna asked taking a seat on one of the dust-covered desks.

Draco snorted. “You were right. You do need to learn how to act.” Draco said. “Let’s drop the pretenses. I know you and those Weasley twins are here on behalf of someone.”

“Oh? And what could have given you that idea?” Luna tilted her head. “It sounds like the start of quite the conspiracy.”

“your late-night strolls through the castle. The fact that you showed up with two students starting late into their education. The fact that you followed my lead with the quick change.” Draco waved his hand in the air. “I could go on.”

“Fair.” Luna shrugged. “So, what does the next head of Nocturn want with me?”

“A declaration of intention.” Draco said. “I want to know what you are here for.”

“Information, naturally.” Luna answered. “now that Harry Potter is in attendance the school’s agenda has become rather important to a lot of people. It has become something that is rather worth knowing.”

Draco nodded. “And… What have you found?”

“Now Draco, that wouldn’t be very prudent of me.” Luna gave a light little laugh. “What kind of informant would I be if I gave the information away for nothing?”

Draco scowled. “What do you want, Loony?”

“quid pro quo.” Luna said kicking her feet. “You tell me what Knockturn wants out of this arrangement and I’ll give you a collection of my findings.”

“You’re asking for a lot, when I don’t have any guarantee from you that its worth my time.” Draco shot back, crossing his arms.

“Probably a wise decision.” Luna shrugged.

“How about information from the snake pit.” Draco offered.

“Looking to have some unknown hinder the competition for you?” Luna eyed Draco knowingly. Draco just snorted but made no move to deny the accusation. Luna fished under her robes for a large folder. Draco’s eyes widened at the sight of the encyclopedia sized assortment of technicolor paper. Without looking at Draco she opened the folder and used her wand to copy several pages. She handed a respectably fat stack of paper to Draco who snatched it out of her hand and skimmed through the pages quickly.

“I suppose this will do.” Draco grumbled. He placed the files into his robes but continued to eye the many more still in Luna’s hands. “You will be here tomorrow, same time.”

Luna hid the files away once more. “But of course, heir Malfoy. I must collect my payment after all.”

Draco nodded curtly to the girl as he made his way out of the room.

Luna watched the door close. Draco Malfoy was certainly not a friend, Luna decided. He may be useful however. Or at the very least a satisfied customer of the Quibbler.

-o0O0o-

_Alone._

_Unloved._

_Abandoned._

_Ugly._

_Know-it-all._

_Witch._

_Mudblood._

_Alone._

_…_

Hermione opened her eyes, noting the presence of tear stains on her pillow. It was that dream again, the one she had ever since her first bout of accidental magic. The list of names she was called seemed to get longer every passing year.

The sound of snoring reached her ears, her roommates were still asleep. She looked over at the clock on the night stand, three in the morning it read. Hermione sighed, she was sweaty and uncomfortable. She just did not want to go back to sleep, back to _that_ dream. She checked the calendar, October 31, Halloween, the note written in the box said something about a death day party. She sighed and got out of bed; she wasn’t going to fall asleep so she might as well take a shower.

She walked into the bathroom and stripped herself of her night-wear, throwing them to the side before entering the shower. She basked in the warm water for a time, allowing it to calm her nerves and wash away her discomfort. She then set about the rather arduous task of washing her hair, it took a little while, the water had begun to get cold by the time she was done. Why that was a thing at all baffled Hermione, there should have been no end to the hot water, they had magic for goodness sake.

She looked down at herself; she was a prepubescent teen so there was not a lot to look at. With her bushy hair and knobby knees, she couldn’t imagine anyone taking notice of her, not that it was a priority to her but it didn’t help her self-esteem at all. And then there was her magic

She would never wish she never had magic, she found too much joy in it, but she would often wish that everyone else would just accept that she was a witch. Be it with the Mundanes or the Magicals neither were happy that she had magic one side hated magic while the other hated the mundane. She was in limbo; she wasn’t accepted anywhere.

She was getting depressed and her magic wasn’t about to let that go unchecked. She felt it wrap around her and warm her, a pleasant tingle started up in her chest. Hermione smiled at this, her magic always did this, and she supposed it was due to her subconscious desire for companionship shaping her magic to fill the void.

Hermione stepped out of the shower before dressing and drying her hair to the best of her ability.

She decided that she would go for a midnight stroll. She knew it was against the rules, and it had been ingrained in her early on to follow the rules, doubly so after her magic was discovered. However, since last year, when she had gone with harry and Ron to get the sorcerer’s stone, she had been indulging in more risky behavior, not much but once every few months was still more often than never.

She walked the halls of the castle, taking calming breaths of cool night air. She noted absently that she had forgotten her shoes but did not go back to get them, it was not that cold after all. She heard soft foot falls coming from up the hall way. She wasn’t particularly worried about being caught at this hour, the prefects and Filch (despite popular belief) did go to bed, around two she believed. She stopped; everyone should be asleep but it didn’t mean they were. Hermione swore and hurried behind a pillar; in her panic she didn’t register her magic wrapping itself around her.

Hermione waited, holding her breath, but didn’t hear anything. Had she imagined the foot falls? Was it just an echo in the long hallways? Hermione waited just a little bit longer before releasing her breath and with it the magic. Coming out of her hiding place she came face to face with a blond-haired girl. Luna.

They stared at each other for some time. Luna did not have her dreamy eyed look Hermione had come to recognize her by; instead she had one of curiosity. A look that traveled across Hermione’s whole person and examined her every detail. The look made Hermione feel slightly self-conscious. They both looked each other up and down, both of them noting the absence of shoes.

“Did the Nargles take your shoes too?” Luna asked, breaking the silence.

“No. I simply forgot them when I...” Hermione started. Not giving much thought to what Nargles were. Hermione thought she saw the beginnings of a smile on the younger girl’s face. “Someone is taking your things?” Hermione asked her tone stern.

“Funny, Harry came to the same conclusion when we talked.” Luna said with a shrug.

“Luna, don’t change the subject.” Hermione admonished receiving a widening smile in return. “If you are being bullied then you need to talk to a teacher about it. Is it Draco?”

Luna’s smile wavered slightly. “No, no. Draco isn’t bullying me. He is quite rude but he has yet to do anything purposefully hurtful.” Luna held up her hand to stop Hermione from speaking. “If you won’t let this go then I will tell you that it is my housemates that are behind this.” Hermione opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted again, annoyingly. “and they have never taken anything I haven’t wanted them to.”

“That you _wanted_ them to?” Hermione asked voice somewhat raised. Some of the sleeping portraits nearby shifted slightly. Hermione continued in a quieter voice. “Luna, why on earth would you _want_ them to take anything?”

“Many reasons.” Luna answered simply. She did not elaborate any further and Hermione was gearing up to interject when Luna continued. “I would not be so reliant on the teacher to solve problems if I was you.” She said causing Hermione to bluster.

“What?” Hermione’s voiced raise once more. This time the paintings didn’t shift in response. “How could you not trust our teachers?”

“Because their purpose here is in service to other powers, and not many of them are being up front with their intentions.” Luna said with a straight face. “While they are certainly worthy of respect they are also working for their own interests.”

“How can you say that?” Hermione asked aghast at Luna’s apparent disregard for authority.

“Because I know of them.” Luna said with a shrug as she sat down leaning against the wall. “Take your head of house for example…”

“What about McGonagall?” Hermione asked with a huff as she sat next to the girl.

“Did you know she runs, or perhaps ran, a brothel in Scotland.” Luna said. Causing Hermione to choke.

“Excuse me?” Hermione wasn’t sure what her strangled tone was supposed to be but it certainly wasn’t demanding.

“Oh, she was quite the successful figure. There were many who believed her establishment was actually a cover for her coven.” Luna said nonchalantly.

“And you know this how? Its hardly something the rest of the student know.” Hermione asked. “I can’t see her getting the respect she does if that was true.”

“But it is true. And many respect her _because_ they know.” Luna said leaning her head back against the wall. “People are complicated. Magicals especially it seems.” Luna said wistfully.

Hermione was silent for a time. It was a widely held belief among Mundanes that Magicals were always up to no good, that because it was easier for them to commit crimes that they always did. To hear even a small part of that stereotype was true, and about a woman she looked up to, was disheartening.

Her expression must have shown on her face because Luna’s voice came drifting to her in a soothing tone. “Do not lament Hermione Granger. We will do great things for the sake of one another. If only doing what is right was as simple as doing what others think is good.”

Hermione remained silent for a time longer. She wanted to argue against that point but she had lived through that. Or rather she had lived through what happens when those she loved _didn’t_ do anything. _Didn’t_ do what was right by her or their family and instead did what others expected of them. To hold on to any semblance of their lively hood after her magical nature tore it apart. In the end they stopped giving her what she needed. She couldn’t even be self righteous about the law either, she had a wand for goodness sake. A fact she was carefully keeping from them.

“Are all the teachers like that?” Hermione asked quietly.

“I don’t believe all of them are cut of the same cloth.” Luna answered. “My own head of house was a debt collector for the Goblins. Despite his ruthless profession however he seems to genuinely enjoy teaching us. I myself have found him to be a joy to talk to.”

“He is, isn’t he?” Hermione said with a half-hearted smile. “Why are you out so late, Luna?”

“I like to walk around the castle at this time of night,” Luna answered as she scooted closer to Hermione. “Though the weather is starting to make quite the turn, its quite chilly.” Hermione shifted uncomfortably as Luna ended up pressed against her side. She had to admit the closeness was quite a pleasant change to the cold corridors but she wasn’t quite comfortable with the young witch in her personal space. “What of you, Hermione Granger?”

“Me?” Hermione asked uncomfortably as she turned to be face to too-close face with Luna.

“Yes.” Luna nodded as she shifted, mercifully, away from Hermione. “What troubles you so, that you would walk through the halls.”

“N-nothing at all.” Hermione blustered nervously. The reminder that she was willfully out breaking the rules putting her off balance slightly. Luna continued to stare at her, shifting in an attempt to make eye contact Hermione was desperately attempting not to reciprocate.

Luna sighed as she stood up and held out her hand to Hermione, a cork hanging at the end of a beaded silver thread dangled in Hermione’s face. “It will keep the Nargles away.” She said simply before turning about and skipping down the halls.

Hermione stared after the young witch for a long time.

She eventual looked down at the charm now in her hand and turned the cork about as she examined the strange gift.

She quietly left the corridor and made her way back to her dorm. She felt lighter as she approached the Fat Lady. Entering her dorm, she checked the time, five o clock it read. There was enough time for a short nap. She just hoped that she was not visited by any more dreams.

-o0O0o-

Harry sat in the great hall for lunch Hermione sitting across from him. She seemed distracted and not just a little bit tired as if she had not slept. Harry was concerned, she showed up like this from time to time. He would do something to help but he didn’t know what. A lifetime without friends was not a good place to look for advice pertaining to that very subject.

To his Left sat Ron and on his right were the twins. Harry was actually proud of his friend; Ron had become a great deal more civil with his brothers. If nothing else they were at least a little more familiar with each other. Harry supposed Ron just had to get over some issues.

Harry himself was not in the best of moods, Halloween was not a day he liked or even wanted to celebrate. Nothing good ever happens on Halloween. His parents were murdered on that day. He never got any candy; he was lucky not to have been physically thrown off his neighbors’ porches. There was that incident with the troll last year... Just, Fuck Halloween, it’s a terrible holiday anyways. It was for these reasons that Harry had accepted Nearly-headless Nick’s invitation to go to his death day party.

“What’s the matter Harry?” The twins spoke in their usual back and forth manner. “Not excited for the feast?”

“No… Not really. I’m not a big Halloween fan.” Harry admitted

“Right, gotcha.”

“Well if you’re not going to be at the feast then what are you doing?”

“Nearly-headless Nick invited us to his death day party.”

“Ooooh. A death day party, eh?”

“We also got an invite.”

“Not sure about Nick though…”

“These parties can be fun and all…”

“But it really depends on _whose_ party.”

“You two sound like you’ve been to one before.” Hermione observed. A death day party was rather unorthodox in her book. Not that she doubted them but she was curious about the circumstances.

“Oh, sure there were plenty of ghosts where we lived.”  George stated…

“We would go to their parties all the time.” …followed closely by Fred…

“The best ones were thrown by this poltergeist.” ...and so on…

“Truly wild they were...”

“Makes us wish Peavsy would throw a party some time.” The fat-fryer, who was drifting a ways across the room, heard the twin’s statement and supressed a shudder.

“So… you two are going?” Harry asked.

“Indeed, we are.” The twins affirmed “and Luna too.”

“Luna?” Harry asked curiously

“Luna’s going?” Hermione asked glancing across the room briefly. She was interested in the twin’s relationship with the girl.

“Sure, she is. She’s the one that dragged us to all the parties to begin with.” Fred answered

“Lived with her in fact.” George added

“Lived with her?”

“yeah”

“You run away from home to live with bloody _Loony_?” Ron asked in a snide tone. It seemed he was slipping back into jack-ass mode.

“No no no. we ran away from home to join the circus.” The twins said choosing to ignore the derogatory nick name. “We ran away from the circus to live with Luna.”

“What do you mean by ‘live with’?” Harry asked curious about his friends.

“Well we couldn’t live on the street, now could we?”

“No, dear brother that would have been terrible.”

“Luna’s mum took us in.”

“We’ve been with them for years.”

“Well living with LOONY must have been bloody fantastic.” Ron quipped; the sarcastic tone almost unnoticeable through a mouth full of food.

“well yes _baby brother_ it was.” Fred answered. Ron scowled at the nick name.

“So, what did we miss back with the family? Mom’s Howler didn’t give us a very good idea of all the love we missed out on.” George added his tone dangerous. Apparently insulting their home was a very bad thing to do.

Harry decided to interject at this point; he did not want lunch to degenerate into a full-blown argument. “uhh… yeah. I think class starts in a few minutes. Wouldn’t want to be late right?” he said looking pointedly at Ron as he rose from his seat. “I’ll see you guys at the party okay?”

“Sounds good to us.” The twins chorused in a merry tone. The situation has been defused for now.

The trio left the great hall and began climbing the stairs to their next class. “Ron.” Hermione said leaning around Harry to look Ron in the eye. “I know you are upset they left your life, but please try to accept the life they _did_ lead.”

Ron’s face turned red, even his ears, and harry was worried that it would become a full-blown shouting match. But before Harry could interject to hopefully interrupt the outburst, Ron sighed as and seemed to visibly calm down. “Yeah… you're right… But...”

Hermione looked at him expectantly and Harry caught on quickly. “Maybe you should apologize.” Harry said carefully. “I mean we are all going to the same party, maybe you can talk with them?”

“I don’t know… I don’t think they want to.” Ron said slouching slightly.

“You’re family.” Harry reasoned. He might not have much experience with the term himself but he knew Ron always put a lot of stock in that ideal. “I’m sure they will be willing to listen to you.”

He noticed that now Hermione was walking slightly hunched as well, barely noticeable but Harry had come to notice a lot lately when it came to his friends. He didn’t know what it was but he hated seeing her like this.

They needed his help, both of his friends, and he hadn’t the foggiest clue where to start helping.

Friends, Harry decided, were complicated.

-o0O0o-

Yeah, the twins had been right. The party wasn’t much fun. The twins themselves had been disappointed that Peaves didn’t show up. Ron was lost more than the others considering he didn’t have anything edible to stuff in his mouth, so he kind of just stood around. While this was going on Hermione had taken covert glances across the room at Luna, curious about the young girl but not sure how to approach her.

_Killl… sssseek…._

Harry’s attention shot to the perfectly normal wall to his right. His abrupt movement drawing Hermione’s attention. “Harry are you alright?”

“Wha- Yeah, yeah. I’m fi-“

_Prey… kill…_

Harry went quickly to the door and looked out into the empty hallway. Not a soul. Everyone was at the feast.

“You alright Mate?” The twins _and_ Ron spoke in unison getting startled looks from everyone in the room including themselves.

“You guys don’t hear that?” Harry asked following the faint whispering as he walked out of the room.

“Sorry Nick. We’ll have to call it a night it seems.” Hermione hastily apologized to the ghost curiously looking after the group.

“Oh, don’t mind me…” Nick said seeming much less put out than one would have expected. “I’m just glad you came at all, its been a rare treat.”

Soon all six of them were walking through the halls. Harry was having trouble keeping track of the whispering as the distant sound of children returning from the feast was becoming less distant by the minute.

“There.” Harry said pointing up the stairs. “It’s right above us. I can’t here it any more but it must be there.” He said in an attempt to assure them he was not going crazy.

“Don’t worry, Harry Potter. We believe you.” Luna said. She lacked her smile and Harry was startled to not how her eyes seemed to quickly dart to the various balconies and dark hallways that surrounded them as they waited for the stairs to shift into the position they needed.

Once they did Harry bolted up the stairs and stopped at the sight that lay before him. Horror stricken at the cruelty of the act.

“The chamber of secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware.” Hermione read out loud as she herself stopped beside him. Hermione was shocked and horrified at what had been done to Mrs. Norris. Granted she never liked the ball of mangy fur but she never wished harm on the poor thing. Ok... not true, she had wished harm on the damn cat on more than one occasion but she would never have actually done anything. Besides the shock Hermione also felt a sense of foreboding pertaining to the message on the wall. She had no idea what it meant but judging from the situation in front of her and taking into account Harry’s propensity for life threatening situations Hermione was sure she saw clouds on the horizon. And she was sure it was going to be a storm.

Luna and the Twins knew of the legend of the chamber only as barely a footnote in the dossier they had been given. It was understandably not a situation they had expected to have to deal with. It was an old hold over from the nearly thousand years of the castle existing before it was turned into a school no doubt. Some monster was supposed to reside there, it wasn’t very important so they never looked into it before.

 Whether this incident required investigation or not was a different matter. They already knew why it was opened; because Harry potter was at school. How it was opened was irrelevant. Where didn’t matter at the present time. When was obviously while everyone was at the Feast. The only thing that was important at this point was who and what, who opened the chamber and what did they release. This is what Luna was thinking at the present time. she would need to keep an even closer eye on Harry to make sure his inevitable involvement did not get him killed, and on Hermione because if the chamber was opened, she did not want to lose a friend.

The twins were not particularly concerned, they were not going to be actively targeted. All they had to worry about is what would happen to their friends, Harry and Hermione. Hermione obviously would be targeted because she was a newly-gifted. And Harry because there was absolutely no way in hell this had nothing to do with him. They would keep on the lookout in case things started showings signs of going to hell.

The rest of the student body showed up mere minutes after they had arrived at the scene themselves and already there was murmuring as the students tried to piece together what they had just stumbled across.

Ron, ever attuned to the hive mind that was the student body, looked at Harry with suspicion. It was Harry that led them here, directly here, it was too convenient in his opinion. He shook the thought aside however as he had also been with his friend the whole night and day and had not seen or heard anything suspicious from Harry. And remembering last year made it clear that it was yet another set of unfortunate circumstances around his friend.

The attention did not go unnoticed by Harry. He knew how the schools rumor mill worked. If he wasn’t already evil in the eyes of all present then he would be by the end of the week at least. He was also worried about the rather foreboding message on the walls. He suffered no illusion that the message didn’t pertain to him and even if it didn’t it was only a matter of time before it did.

“Enemies of the heir, beware! You’ll be next, mudbloods!” Malfoy yelled over his shoulder as he headed back to his common room. Harry could feel the hysteria growing in the after math of Malfoy’s words.

Snape walked up to harry. “Come with me. Potter.” He drawled. “we’re going to the headmaster’s office.”

All Harry wanted was one normal year. just one. But then again, he was well schooled in not getting what he wanted.

[END]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been re writing this old story recently. I'm older now and have (I believe) a better grasp on story writing. I have been chopping the old story apart and throwing out large chunks of now very useless minutia, streamlining the story and making it deviate a little less from the world that people have come to love (original Harry Potter). Instead of trying, as i had when i was younger, to entirely reinvent the wheel.  
> This chapter is mostly made up of new parts and parts of what used to be chapter 5. and everything I had written previously for chapter 4 is in the garbage. I am not the greatest writer around and I was extremely embarrassed at what I had previously published.   
> oh well.
> 
> -Spoilers i guess? just character intent stuff-
> 
> So I'm not going to soften Ron's flaws. I interpret him as someone who lashes out when he is hurting but tries to act in support of his loyalties. but who will struggle to decide what the "right" thing to do is in some cases. he was definitely just a punching bag previously but I've got some ideas on how I want to actually use him.
> 
> I'm applying the same treatment to Draco. not a nice guy not a punching bag. but still cathartic should he find himself on the receiving end of some unfortunate situation. his only real short coming is that he tows the party line like his father, but he is not incompetent and instead struggles with a need for recognition.


End file.
